Light-Spored Gilled Mushrooms

Key to Major Morphologic Groups

1. Mushroom with more or less distinct cap and stipe; gills thin and plate-like, separate from one another, either attached to stipe to various degrees or not attached

1. Mushroom often vase- or funnel-shaped without distinct cap and stipe; gills thick and vein- or wrinkle-like, often merging together and/or with cross-veins, extending down stipe

Chanterelles (42)

1. Mushroom shelf-like or bracket-shaped; stipe lacking or very reduced, sometimes centrally attached but more often attached at the edge of the cap; gills thin and plate-like, extending down stipe when one is present

Genus Pleurotus and similar mushrooms (134)

2. Gills thick, often widely spaced, and with a waxy appearance; many species small and brightly colored (especially red, orange, or yellow), others larger and dullercolored (mostly white, brown, or gray)

Wax-Caps (62)

2. Gills usually thinner and more closely spaced without a waxy appearance; mushroom size and color varied

3. Mushrooms mostly medium- to large-sized; stipe (when present) not particularly slender relative to cap diameter, texture of stipe similar to that of cap

3. Mushrooms mostly small, stipe rather slender relative to cap diameter, texture of stipe different from that of cap (stipe usually tougher and more pliable)

4. Gills free; stipe often cleanly separable from cap (like a ball and socket joint)

4. Gills attached to stipe; stipe not cleanly separable from cap

5. Young mushroom completely enveloped by a veil, the remnants of which remain as a volva (cup, collar, or rings of tissue) at the base of the stipe and/or a superficial patch or warts on the cap, cap surface (beneath any patch or warts) smooth but outer edge may be grooved

Genus Amanita (80)

5. Young mushroom not completely enveloped by a veil (but gills may be covered by a partial veil that remains as a ring on the stipe), thus no volva, patch, or warts present, cap surface may be smooth, powdery, or innately scaly, outer edge not grooved

Lepiotas and similar mushrooms (71)

6. Texture of cap, gills, and stipe brittle, fresh mushroom shattering (like automobile safety glass) when thrown against a tree and stipe snapping cleanly like a piece of chalk when broken

6. Texture fibrous, not behaving as above

7. Fresh mushroom (especially the gills) exuding a watery, milky, or colored liquid when cut or broken; color of cap usually dull, color of stipe usually similar to that of cap

Genus Lactarius (54)

7. Mushroom not exuding liquid when cut or broken; color of cap often bright (red, green, yellow, purple, etc.), color of stipe usually white, sometimes with reddish or purplish blush

Genus Russula (48)

8. Gills usually decurrent, although sometimes merely attached, cap often vase- or funnel-shaped, colors usually drab (white, brown, or gray)

Genus Clitocybe and similar mushrooms (89)

8. Gills attached, often only slightly, but not decurrent, cap usually convex to flat, colors may be dull or fairly bright

Genus Tricholoma and similar mushrooms (99)

9. Caps usually thin-fleshed and often quite fragile, edge of cap not inrolled when young, cap often conical, at least when young, gills vary from attached to decurrent, those with decurrent gills often exhibit a vase- or funnel-shaped cap, dried specimens not reviving when moistened

Genus Mycena and similar mushrooms (122)

9. Cap usually somewhat thicker-fleshed and tougher, edge of cap often inrolled when young, cap usually convex to flat, not conical (although a central hump often is present), gills attached, but not decurrent, dried specimens often reviving when moistened

Genus Collybia and similar mushrooms (115)

Cantharellus formosus

CHANTERELLES

The chanterelles include a variety of mushrooms belonging to four genera (Cantharellus, Craterellus, Gomphus, and Polyozellus) that are similar in bearing their spores on ridges instead of plate-like gills. The fruit-bodies range from small to large and have a cap and stalk, although there is not always a clear distinction between them; in many cases, they are more or less vase-, funnel-, or trumpet-shaped with the fertile ridges extending down the stipe. They are brittle, fleshy, or leathery in texture, never woody. The stipe can be fleshy or hollow. The fertile surface often has a waxy luster and comprises an anastomosing system of thick, shallow folds with blunt edges and cross-veins. The fertile surface is nearly smooth in some species of Craterellus and Cantharellus, but only one of these, Craterellus cornucopioides, occurs (uncommonly) in the PNW. The chanterelles are strictly woodland fungi, as they are ectomycorrhizal with a variety of trees. Thus, they are found on soil or sometimes on well-rotted wood.

Our current understanding of evolutionary relationships among the fungi suggests that the chanterelles are more closely related to some of the spine-, club-, and coral-fungi than they are to the gilled mushrooms. Despite their similar appearance, the different chanterelles are not all closely related to one another. Cantharellus and Craterellus indeed are closely related to each other, as well as to the spine-fungus Hydnum repandum and its relatives. On the other hand, Gomphus is closely related to stinkhorns (and their truffle-like relatives), earthstars, and coralfungi such as ramarias. Polyozellus appears related to the thelephoras and spine-fungi in the genera Hydnellum and Sarcodon.

Cantharellus formosus Corner

PACIFIC GOLDEN CHANTERELLE

Although nearly all the golden chanterelles in North America have been referred to as Cantharellus cibarius, recent studies have confirmed that there actually are several, if not many, different species. The species epithet formosus (“finely formed,” “beautiful”) is certainly descriptive of many of our golden chanterelles. The fruitbodies are often large for a chanterelle, and have a dull orange to brownish orange cap that readily bruises brownish and often is finely scaly. The fertile ridges often are deep and relatively thin; they are usually pale orange-yellow but may have a pinkish cast. The stipe usually is fairly slender and tapered downward. Cantharellus formosus fruits abundantly throughout moist portions of the PNW and is the species most commonly found for sale in produce markets and grocery stores, as well as on restaurant menus.

Golden chanterelles for sale at Pike Place Market in Seattle

Cantharellus formosus

Ridged hymenium of Cantharellus formosus SAT-00-251-13

Cantharellus formosus and two non-edible look-alikes—Chroogomphus tomentosus, left, and Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, right

Gilled mushrooms that could be confused with golden chanterelles include Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, Chroogomphus tomentosus, and, in California, Omphalotus olivascens. All three have sharp, blade-like gills (although those of H. aurantiaca can be deceivingly chanterelle-like), none of these is worth eating, and the latter is poisonous. Gomphus floccosus and G. kauffmanii both have blunt fold-like gills like chanterelles; however, both are generally more vase-like and have coarse scales on the cap. Dark individuals of the white chanterelle (Cantharellus subalbidus) and individuals of other golden chanterelle species such as C. cascadensis can be hard to differentiate from Pacific golden chanterelles, but seeing as how all are good edibles, the consequences of misidentification are negligible.

Cantharellus cascadensis

Cantharellus cibarius var. roseocanus SAT-99-296-15

Cantharellus cascadensis Dunham, O’Dell, and R. Molina

Both this golden chanterelle and Cantharellus cibarius var. roseocanus Redhead, Norvell, and Danell (rainbow chanterelle) first passed as C. cibarius, and then as C. formosus, but now are recognized as separate entities in large part as a result of molecular analyses. They are very similar to C. formosus in most respects, differing primarily in sometimes subtle details of coloration, bruising reaction, scaliness, and habitat. The cap of C. cascadensis usually exhibits bright yellow hues and a smooth or slightly wooly surface. The stipe often is clavate or bulbous. This species has only recently been recognized, so its distribution has not yet been well worked out, although it can occur in at least some of the same places as other PNW chanterelles. The cap of C. cibarius var. roseocanus is smooth, bright yellow-orange, often has a pinkish blush near its edge, and bruises less than the other two golden chanterelles. It seems to be associated primarily with spruce, occurring with Sitka spruce and shore pine near the coast and with Engelmann spruce in the mountains. All three of the golden chanterelles discussed here appear to be pretty much restricted to the PNW.

Cantharellus subalbidus A. H. Smith and Morse

WHITE CHANTERELLE

Cantharellus subalbidus differs from the golden chanterelles primarily by its cream to ivory color. It darkens to yellow-orange with age and so older specimens sometimes can be difficult to distinguish from golden chanterelles. Although it occurs in a variety of forests containing Douglas-fir and hemlock, it seems to have a greater affinity for old forests than do C. formosus and C. cascadensis.

Craterellus tubaeformis (Fries) Quélet

WINTER CHANTERELLE

Craterellus tubaeformis is a small, slender, trumpet-shaped chanterelle with a brownish or orange-brown cap, hollow stipe, and penchant for growing on mossy rotten wood. It has a long fruiting season although, in most of the PNW, it is not common in winter (it is in California, though). Previously it was known as Cantharellus tubaeformis and also, incorrectly, as Cantharellus/Craterellus infundibuliformis. Results of the molecular analysis that supported Craterellus as the appropriate genus for C. tubaeformis also suggest that the winter chanterelle of the PNW is not that species. Thus, we may need a new name for our fungus, and C. neotubaeformis has been suggested, although not yet formally proposed. Despite its size, C. tubaeformis is edible and considered choice by some. Its tendency to grow in large troops allows it to be gathered in sufficient quantity to be worthwhile.

Gomphus clavatus (Persoon) S. F. Gray

PIG’S EAR

According to Alexander Smith, “This is the fungus usually referred to when someone asks about ‘that funny-looking thing which is purplish underneath’ . . . It is a most peculiar fungus to say the least.” The purplish, veined fertile surface combined with the flat to funnel-like tan cap and growth in clusters make it distinctive. Polyozellus multiplex also is clustered and has a veined fertile surface, but is entirely dark purplish, blue, or black. Gomphus clavatus is less abundant than many mycophagists would like, but is not rare, occurring throughout the conifer forests of western and northern North America. Many consider it a choice edible but, unlike the other chanterelles, it often is insect-infested unless you find it very young.

Cantharellus subalbidus SAT-05-259-05

Craterellus tubaeformis SAT-01-276-14

Gomphus clavatus SAT-00-250-13

Gomphus floccosus

Gomphus floccosus (Schweinitz) Singer

WOOLY CHANTERELLE

Not truly wooly, Gomphus floccosus is more accurately characterized by the coarse scales that usually line its deeply vase-shaped cap; however, it is a highly variable fungus, and the degree of scaliness is by no means constant. In its common form, the cap when fresh is a deep reddish orange but fades with age, and old pale specimens can be found that might seem to be a different fungus. The fertile surface is whitish to pale yellowish and highly wrinkled and forked, with portions appearing almost like pores in older specimens. The size of the fruitbodies varies from small-medium to fairly large, and the shape can be tall and slender or short and squatty with the vase shape being more or less developed. It is common throughout the conifer forests of western and northern North America. Gomphus bonarii has been said to differ by being smaller, having block-like yellow-orange scales with red tips, and a tendency to grow in clusters. However, in practice, it is very difficult to distinguish two species, and many mycologists do not recognize G. bonarii as a separate species. Although some people consider G. floccosus delicious, others find the taste poor, and still others have reported gastric discomfort after eating it. Thus, we recommend that it be avoided. Based on results of DNA analyses, G. floccosus seems less closely related to G. clavatus than had been thought, so some mycologists feel the former species should be called Turbinellus floccosus instead.

Gomphus kauffmanii (A. H. Smith) R. H. Petersen

Gomphus kauffmanii is similar to G. floccosus, but in its typical form usually can be recognized by the lack of orange hues in the cap, more abundant and coarser scales, often larger size, and more substantial stocky appearance. It is not prone to growing in clusters. In the PNW, it seems to be found most commonly in old-growth conifer forests, but it also occurs in other conifer forests here and throughout most of western North America. It is encountered less often than G. floccosus. The edibility of G. kauffmanii is questionable, so we recommend it be avoided. It is very closely related to G. floccosus and so may also be transferred to the genus Turbinellus.

Gomphus kauffmanii SAT-98-260-06

Polyozellus multiplex (Underwood) Murrill

BLUE CHANTERELLE, BLACK CHANTERELLE

The purplish to blackish color, veined fertile surface, and tendency to grow in tight-packed clusters make Polyozellus multiplex easy to identify. If confirmation is necessary, the warty white spores and blackish green reaction of the flesh when potassium hydroxide is applied will cinch the identification. In the PNW, it is an uncommon to somewhat rare species that occurs most frequently in old-growth forests. It also occurs in conifer forests throughout western and northern North America and in Japan and Korea. Polyozellus multiplex is thought by many to be a good edible species, but because of its rarity we recommend restraint when collecting it for the table.

Polyozellus multiplex SAT-99-296-13

Polyozellus multiplex, ridged hymenium SAT-05-265-16

Russula adusta SAT-01-264-50

GENUS RUSSULA

Russula is a particularly easy genus to recognize, and many of its species also can be identified readily. However, most species are difficult to identify both because of the nature of variation within the genus and because its taxonomy is a nightmare. Most russulas are medium to large woodland mushrooms with colorful caps, white stipes, and a characteristic squatty appearance resulting from the width of the caps being about the same as the height of the stipes. They are very clean-looking in part because they lack veils; thus they do not have rings or volvas (at least the species in North America do not). The other distinctive characteristic is their brittle texture—a fresh russula thrown against a tree will shatter like automobile safety glass with relatively clean edges on the fragments (we recommend that everyone try this once, but not make a habit of destroying russulas as, when intact and in place, they are a very attractive visual element in our forests). Other than in Lactarius (close relatives of russulas, in which it is less well developed), this brittle texture is very rare in mushrooms. A less violent means of experiencing it is to break a fresh stipe in half—it will break cleanly, like a piece of chalk. The reason for this texture can be seen under the microscope—the flesh includes nests of spherical cells that look much like soap suds in a sink of dishwater. These cells can move fairly freely past one another, unlike long slender hyphae that are intertangled like a mass of spaghetti. Another characteristic microscopic feature is the spores, which are mostly ellipsoid to nearly globose, with warts or ridges or networks of ridges that stain bluish black in Melzer’s reagent. The spores vary from pure white, through shades of cream and yellow, to fairly dark ocher. The flesh of many species is acrid either immediately or delayed, and it has led some San Francisco Bay Area mushroomers to refer to “russula mouth.” The members of Russula and Lactarius are closely related, usually being separated by the presence of latex in Lactarius. In addition, the more brittle flesh of the russulas, their tendency to have more brightly colored caps, and their characteristic stature make recognition of the two genera fairly easy in most cases.

In recent years, molecular and morphological studies have shown that the russulas and lactariuses form an evolutionary line distinct from that of the other gilled mushrooms. The molecular analyses also have added to the confusion of Russula taxonomy by suggesting that Russula and Lactarius, as currently configured, do not represent natural evolutionary groups. Instead many species of Lactarius are included among the russulas. As with other aspects of mushroom taxonomy, time will tell how things shake out. For now, we will maintain the traditional arrangement. Russulas and lactariuses are ectomycorrhizal and hence are found in forests and other areas where suitable host trees are present.

Ben Woo, an ardent student of russulas, characterized the edibility of the genus as follows: “Russulas are so abundant that the question of their edibility is always raised by beginners. The answer is usually a wry, ‘Well, if they taste mild, you can try eating them.’ The implication is that they are not particularly choice. It’s the plain truth that, given the availability of almost any other edible mushrooms, russulas come off a distant second. Most are either of poor quality or unpalatable.” The only species our good friend recommended are Russula olivacea and R. xerampelina.

Russula adusta (Persoon: Fries)

Fries Russula adusta is a member of the subgenus Compactae, which includes relatively large, dense, hard-fleshed mushrooms that are white to brownish and often blacken in age. Russula adusta blackens only slightly, and the flesh pinkens lightly when cut. The cap is brownish to grayish (adust is Latin for “burned” or “tanned”), relatively shiny, and the odor is said to approximate that of empty wine barrels (although this odor has not been noticed in PNW collections). The spores are white and the taste is mild. It grows with conifers. Russula densifolia is very similar, with more white in the cap, reddening flesh, perhaps a more acrid taste, and perhaps slightly yellowish spores. Russula albonigra is whiter at first, and then turns black without reddening, with the gills often the last part to blacken.

Russula amoenolens Romagnesi

Russula amoenolens is the name we have chosen for a medium-sized, yellow-brown to gray-brown fungus with a spermatic odor, hot taste, and pale creamy yellow spores, that is both widespread and abundant in natural habitats and, especially, under trees in parks and landscaped settings. There may be more than one species involved, but sorting out the different concepts in the literature is extremely difficult. Many original descriptions are skimpy at best, and interpretations vary from author to author. Other names that have been used for this fungus, or similar species, include R. insignis, R. pectinata, R. pectinatoides, R. cerolens, and R. sororia. They appear related to the group exemplified by R. laurocerasi, but differ in their smaller size, less yellowish cap color, more finely ornamented spores, and different odors.

Russula brevipes Peck

Russula brevipes is one of the more common mushrooms in the PNW as well as being one of David Arora’s leading candidates for “most boring mushroom.” It is a usually large white member of subgenus Compactae that does not redden or blacken, although it may develop brownish stains. As its epithet suggests, the stipe (-pes, Latin for “foot”) is short (Latin, brevi) compared to the cap diameter, so it often has difficulty getting its cap above the soil surface. Often it is found as “mushrumps,” particularly along the edges of trails and unpaved forest roads. The cap usually is somewhat to markedly vase-shaped, the spores are white, and the taste is mild to variably acrid. Russula cascadensis is a supposedly separate species, differentiated by its smaller size, cap with buffy tones, smaller spores, and very acrid taste. However, many collections fall uncomfortably between the two concepts, so it remains to be seen whether there is more than one species here or not. Russula brevipes is very similar to R. delica and R. chloroides of Europe, the latter perhaps corresponding to R. brevipes var. acrior, which is acrid and has a narrow greenish band around the stipe apex adjacent to the gills.

Russula amoenolens SAT-06-301-03

Russula brevipes SAT-00-264-01

Russula crassotunicata Singer

Russula crassotunicata is a mostly white fungus often found growing on well-rotted wood. Its cap may be somewhat creamy or yellowish, and the gills and stipe often develop brownish stains. Its most distinctive characteristic is its thick, tough, rubbery cap cuticle that often can be completely peeled away from the cap flesh. It is most often found in old-growth forests and can be rather common. The spores are white and the taste is bitter to acrid.

Russula crenulata Burlingham

Russula crenulata, R. raoultii Quélet, and R. cremoricolor are three very similar species that cannot be confidently separated by macroscopic features, and not easily even with microscopic features. All are mediumsized, with whitish to pale yellowish to yellow caps, white spores, and acrid taste, and all grow in a variety of forests with both conifers and hardwoods. Russula crenulata has the largest spores (8–10.5 × 6.5–7.5µm), numerous cystidia in the cap cuticle, cap cuticle that peels easily at least halfway to the center, and finely serrated gill edges (often need a handlens to see it clearly). Russula raoultii has the smallest spores (5.7–9 × 5.5–7.5 µm), best developed network of spore ornamentation, less numerous cystidia in the cap cuticle, and moderately peelable cap. Russula cremoricolor has mid-sized spores (7.5–9.5 × 5.7–8 µm) and less prominent spore ornamentation, and lacks partial gills between the full gills.

Russula fragilis (Persoon: Fries)

Fries Russula fragilis is a small to small-medium species with very fragile flesh that becomes water-soaked very quickly. The cap color is generally a mix of watery purple, pink, and olivaceous green on a whitish to grayish background, and the cap edge is translucent striate. The spores are white, the odor mild or pleasantly fruity, and the taste very acrid. It occurs singly or in small groups, often on or near well-rotted wood.

Russula fragilis SAT-00-298-36

Russula crassotunicata

Russula crenulata

Russula raoultii SAT-04-304-05

Russula laurocerasi Melzer

Russula laurocerasi is one of our larger russulas. It has a viscid yellowish brown cap with a grooved margin, whitish to brown-stained stipe, and strong, but generally pleasant, odor of almond extract or maraschino cherries. The spores are cream to pale yellow and the taste is very acrid. Microscopically, the spores have much more prominent warts (1.5–2.5 µm high) than the many similar species. These include R. foetens, very similar except for the strongly fetid odor, R. subfoetens with fetid odor and flesh that yellows when cut, R. fragrantissima with odor similar to R. laurocerasi or anise-like but persisting after the fruitbodies have been dried, and edge of the cap smooth or short-striate, and R. illota, gill edge and stipe with blackish brown dots and odor like R. laurocerasi, but with a very noticeable fetid component. Various of these have been synonymized or made varieties of one another, and the question of which of them occur in the PNW remains largely open.

Russula laurocerasi

Russula nigricans

nigricans Bulliard: Fries

Russula nigricans Bulliard: Fries

Russula nigricans is another species in sub-genus Compactae. It is a large, hard mushroom, with brownish or blackish brown cap and flesh that turns red when bruised; it blackens almost completely in age. The spores are white and the taste is mild to slightly acrid. It is distinguished from similar species, such as R. adusta and R. densifolia by its widely spaced gills. Russula dissimulans was described based on collections from North America, but the concept is very close to that of R. nigricans and so the name has not been applied frequently. Russula nigricans is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere.

Russula occidentalis Singer

Russula occidentalis is a common species under conifers in the Washington Cascades and, like many russulas, causes a great deal of confusion. It is a medium-sized or larger mushroom, with a variably colored cap—usually it is purplish with a yellow-green center, but it can appear in many shades of purplish, olive-green, and browns, usually in mixtures. The gills are cream to pale yellowish, and the stipe is white and often turns grayish in age or when handled, sometimes with a reddish phase. The flesh is white and turns reddish to grayish to black when exposed. The spores are creamcolored.

Russula occidentalis

Russula queletii Fries

Russula queletii is the name usually applied to specimens with a purplish cap, purple-blushed stipe, cream or pale yellow spores, pleasant fruity odor, acrid taste, and association with spruce. The color of the illustrated collection is brighter and less reddish than most illustrations of European material, so we could have a closely related species and not the real thing. Similar species include R. sardonia (= R. drimeia), with bright yellow gills and spores with bands rather than mostly isolated warts, and R. torulosa, with less acrid flesh, spores similar to those of R. sardonia, and association with pine. The occurrence of these species in the PNW has not been established.

Russula queletii SAT-01-279-05

Russula rosacea SAT-04-018-09

Russula rosacea (Persoon) S. F. Gray

Russula rosacea (= R. sanguinea, R. sanguinaria) is easily recognized by the bright red cap, usually red or pink-tinged stipe, creamy yellow spores and gills, acrid taste, and growth in often large groups under pines. Collections from other conifer habitats could represent R. americana, which has larger spores (9–11 × 8–11 vs. 7.5–9.5 × 7–8 µm) and more fragile flesh but, otherwise, is virtually identical. Because it is often said that the acrid taste disappears during cooking, several R. rosacea were sautéed at an Oregon Mycological Society foray. The acrid taste did disappear, but the resulting flavor was disgusting and no one could manage to swallow a bite.

Russula stuntzii Grund

Russula stuntzii is characterized by its small to medium fruitbodies with a viscid pale grayish cap, white to pale yellowish spores and gills, white stipe, and acrid taste. It occurs singly or in small groups in conifer forests, often on or near rotting wood. The epithet honors Dr. Daniel E. Stuntz, longtime mycologist and teacher at the University of Washington. As far as is known R. stuntzii occurs only along the Pacific Coast, from B.C. to California.

Russula stuntzii SAT-07-268-11

Russula xerampelina SAT-00-261-57

Russula xerampelina (Schaeffer) Fries

Russula xerampelina produces generally large stout fruitbodies with a fishy or crabby odor, whitish stipes that stain brown when handled, pale yellow spores and gills, and mild taste. The typical form has a bright red, maroon, or deep purple cap and various degrees of pink tinge on the stipe. Either R. xerampelina exhibits an extraordinary range of cap colors, or there are a large number of very similar species that differ primarily in cap color; thus, many varieties of R. xeram pelina and separate species have been described. Among the better known of these are R. elaeodes (= R. x. var. elaeodes), with green to olive to dark brown or blackish cap colors, singly or in mixtures, and R. graveolens, with brownish purple to vinaceous or vinaceous-brown colors. Russula xerampelina, in the broad sense, is very widely distributed in a variety of forest types. It is probably the most frequently eaten russula.

GENUS LACTARIUS

MILK-CAPS

Lactarius is characterized by exuding a watery to milky or colored fluid when broken or cut, best seen in the gills or flesh of the stipe apex. Only a few other mushrooms (for example, certain mycenas and hydropuses) produce similar latex, and all these species are small and fragile compared to lactariuses. The texture of most lactariuses is brittle, like that of russulas, because they contain similar clusters of round cells in their flesh. Also like russulas, lactariuses have white to yellowish spores with striking patterns of ornamentation (dark blue to bluish black in Melzer’s reagent). Lactariuses come in a variety of colors and have a number of easily recognized features that, when combined with the color of the latex and color changes, make many of them relatively easy to identify to species. While there are some smaller species, such as L. occidentalis, most are mediumsized or larger. Many lactariuses have a relatively broad cap relative to the stipe length, and the cap often has an incurved edge and is depressed in the center when mature. Lactariuses are ectomycorrhizal, and some are host-specific—for example, L. torminosus occurs only with birches—while others occur with a variety of trees. Some species, such as L. deliciosus and L. rubrilacteus, are collected for food. The acrid species, such as L. torminosus and L. piperatus, generally are said to be poisonous; however, in Finland, Russia, and other areas, such species are regularly eaten, after proper preparation.

Lactarius deliciosus group

Lactarius deliciosus (Fries) S. F. Gray Group

The name Lactarius deliciosus has been applied, in both North America and Europe, to a widespread group of common mushrooms that have in common an overall orange to salmon coloration, zonate caps, a tendency to discolor greenish when bruised or in age, and orange to reddish orange latex. In western North America, several varieties of L. deliciosus have been recognized; however, recent studies show that, although these are closely related to the “real” L. deliciosus, they probably should not be considered the same species. One of our orange milk-caps has an orange, moist to subviscid cap with a slight whitish bloom, subtle zonation, and orange spots when fresh. The stipe has a whitish bloom and often watery orange spots over a light orange background. The gills are light orange with paler edges, the scant bright orange latex stains the flesh reddish on exposure, and the fruitbodies develop moderate to complete green-staining in age. Another type occurs later in the season in coastal forests, often under spruce. It has caps with strong grayish green colors mixed with brownish orange, orangish gills and stipe, and extensive green staining. The orange latex is scant and does not change or stain the flesh. Work is under way to clarify species concepts for our orange milk-caps and their relationships with similar species elsewhere. All are gathered for food; however, the interior of a fresh-looking specimen may be home to numerous larvae and, even when larva-free, they are not generally considered deserving of their species name.

Lactarius deliciosus group (the drops on the gills are water, not latex) SAT-99-301-11

Lactarius fallax A. H. Smith and Hesler

Lactarius fallax is commonly encountered on litter in spruce and mixed conifer forests along the coast and in the interior mountains. It is a medium-sized species with a dry, velvety, brown to blackish brown cap with a distinct pointed umbo. The stipe is dry, velvety, often wrinkled at the top, and similar in color to the cap, except for the whitish base. The gills are white with either white or gray-brown to dark brown edges. The spacing of the gills ranges from crowded to distant in some forms, and the gills often extend a bit onto the stipe apex. The latex is white and unchanging, often scanty, and after some time broken flesh becomes pinkish to vinaceous. Lactarius fallax can occasionally be abundant but most often occurs as one or a few fruitbodies. The taste and odor are mild, but pleasant. Lactarius lignyotus of eastern North America and Europe is a close relative.

Lactarius glyciosmus (Fries: Fries) Fries

Lactarius glyciosmus occurs primarily in areas where birch has been planted, especially parks and grassy roadsides. In natural habitats, it occurs in moist areas, primarily in sphagnum under birch, but also with alder and willow in both boreal and montane habitats. It is a small to medium-sized mushroom with a fruity smell like coconut and a slightly acrid taste. The cap surface is dry, somewhat velvety to finely scaly and pinkish buff or pinkish gray, with clay to cinnamon tones usually in concentric zones. The gills are crowded, light pinkish buff, and run onto the stipe apex. The stipe is dry, slightly pruinose at the apex and glabrous below, similar in color to the cap but often paler, has a white felty base, and may be compressed. The latex is white and usually abundant.

Lactarius fallax SAT-00-284-55

Lactarius glyciosmus SAT-04-278-02

Lactarius kauffmanii SAT-05-265-12

Lactarius kauffmanii Hesler and A. H. Smith

In the past, Lactarius kauffmanii was often misidentified as L. trivialis, a species that occurs with spruce and birch in Europe. The two are similar in size and stature; how-ever, L. kauffmanii has white latex that dries grayish green and a viscid cap that is brown to dark brown with grayish or vinaceous tones, but not zoned. The gills are typically pale orange to light orange and stain brownish when cut or bruised. The stipe is viscid and light grayish orange or tan to vinaceous cinnamon, with distinctive dots. The taste is decidedly acrid. Lactarius trivialis differs primarily by its lighter color and pale cream latex that turns white paper yellow.

Lactarius occidentalis A. H. Smith

Lactarius occidentalis is a small fragile species that occurs with alders. The cap is smooth to wrinkled, dry to moist, dark brown to brown with olive colors when fresh, sometimes developing orange-brown tones, non-zoned, and translucent-striate along the edge when fresh. The gills are pinkish cinnamon to pinkish tan, narrow, and close. The stipe is dry and dark brown to brownish orange or grayish brown. The latex is white to whey-like, mild, and may be scanty or absent, especially in older mushrooms. Cut or broken surfaces slowly become reddish brown. Lactarius obscuratus is a closely related species that grows with alder in Europe.

Lactarius olympianus Hesler and A. H. Smith

Lactarius olympianus is common in conifer forests throughout the PNW and Rocky Mountains. It is sometimes confused with species in the L. deliciosus group because of the viscid cap with concentric zones of orange tones. However, breaking any part of the mushroom produces abundant white unchanging latex that is extremely acrid. The gills are whitish or yellowish and discolor orange-brown when bruised or in age. The stipe is usually whitish at first, and becomes ochraceous in age. The European species L. zonarioides is similar.

Lactarius occidentalis SAT-01-279-40

Lactarius olympianus SAT-00-263-03

Lactarius pallescens Hesler and A. H. Smith

Lactarius pallescens is a close relative of L. uvidus. Both species are medium-sized to large, produce copious white latex, and their flesh stains lilac when injured. Lactarius pallescens has a viscid to slimy, white to grayish or grayish vinaceous cap, whitish gills that may be slightly decurrent, and viscid to slimy white stipe that is shiny when dry. All parts develop ochraceous to pale rusty stains in age. It can be found commonly in conifer forests throughout the PNW. Lactarius uvidus var. montanus (= L. montanus) is darker-colored and occurs from the southern Rockies to Alaska.

Lactarius plumbeus (Bulliard: Fries) S. F. Gray

Lactarius plumbeus (= L. necator, L. turpis) is a medium-sized to large species, with cap and stipe that have strong olivaceous tones usually mixed with yellow at first and brown or green when mature. The cap becomes broadly depressed when mature, with a somewhat sticky surface that is velvety to hairy or somewhat scaly, and the edge often appears veined from above. The gills are crowded, usually forked near the stipe, and whitish with pale orange to pale yellow tints when fresh. The stipe is slightly sticky, cylindrical to barrel-shaped, and sometimes has dark spots. The mushrooms exude copious white acrid latex. The flesh is firm and the taste mild at first but then very acrid. All parts of the mushroom darken with age or when broken or bruised. In the PNW, L. plumbeus occurs frequently under planted birch trees and often persists into late fall as dry black specimens. In Europe, it is reported from birch and spruce forests.

In PNW conifer forests, we have a related species, Lactarius olivaceo-umbrinus Hesler and A. H. Smith. It is very similar in appearance and coloration to L. plumbeus but with somewhat stronger olive-brown cap and stipe and dark spots on the stipe. It is most frequent in the coastal Sitka spruce forests, but also extends into interior montane forests. It is rarely abundant, most often being found as single fruitbodies.

Lactarius pseudomucidus Hesler and A. H. Smith

Lactarius pseudomucidus is entirely gray to grayish brown or brownish except for the whitish stipe base. Older or water-soaked fruitbodies are often faded and may develop more brownish colors. Both cap and stipe are viscid to slimy. The gills are strikingly white with a grayish or yellowish tint and stain brownish when cut or bruised. The latex is white to whey-like, and dries yellowish. Both the latex and flesh are acrid. Lactarius pseudomucidus is frequently found in coastal and mid-elevation conifer forests, and eastward at least as far as Idaho and southward into California. In the past, it was misidentified as L. mucidus, an eastern species.

Lactarius pseudomucidus SAT-99-300-09

Lactarius pallescens SAT-05-266-11

Lactarius plumbeus

Lactarius olivaceo-umbrinus

Lactarius rubrilacteus Hesler and A. H. Smith

Lactarius rubrilacteus is related to the L. deliciosus group but differs by the light orange to brownish orange, obscurely to distinctly zonate cap, which often is broadly vaseshaped when mature, the light orange to grayish orange gills, and a light orange to brownish orange or somewhat reddish stipe, which often has a whitish bloom at first and develops distinct spots when mature. The latex is reddish brown and does not change color on exposure; however, bruised, damaged, or aged mushrooms often have grayish to greenish colors, and sometimes even unexpanded mushrooms are greenish. It occurs in a variety of habitats, often in young stands of pine and Douglas-fir. In North America, L. rubrilacteus has mistakenly been called L. sanguifluus, a similar species that occurs under pine in Europe and is related to L. vinosus. Both of the latter species also have reddish brown to winered latex. Lactarius rubrilacteus is perhaps the most widely eaten lactarius in the PNW, although that is not saying much.

Lactarius rubrilacteus

Lactarius rufus (Scopoli: Fries) Fries

Lactarius rufus has a reddish brown to brick-colored or orange-brown, dry, non-zoned cap that sometimes wrinkles in age. The gills are pale orange; the stipe is pinkish brown to brownish orange or reddish orange, but often its lower and upper areas are pale. The latex is copious, white, and unchanging, and the taste is exceedingly, but slowly, acrid. Lactarius rufus commonly occurs with spruce and pine, often in abundance, for example, near the edge of bogs or in other moist mossy areas where spruce occurs. It is very common in northern conifer forests around the world.

Lactarius scrobiculatus var. canadensis (A. H. Smith) Hesler and A. H. Smith

Lactarius scrobiculatus is one of a number of lactariuses that have a bearded cap margin. They come in various colors, often have concentrically zoned caps, and frequently are viscid when fresh. The cap color, latex color and color changes, and habitat are helpful in identifying them. Lactarius scrobiculatus is typically a large mushroom with whitish to yellow or ochraceous caps. The gills are crowded, often forked near the stipe, whitish to yellowish, and develop brownish stains. The copious latex is white and quickly turns yellow. The stipe is dry, white to yellowish with large glazed spots (scrobiculae), and eventually develops yellowish to rusty brown discolorations. Lactarius scrobiculatus is common in our conifer forests. Other bearded species include L. alnicola with a pale yellow cap and white latex that slowly becomes yellow or stains white paper yellow; it occurs in mixed conifer-hardwood forests. Lactarius repraesentaneus has a rich yellow cap, white to pale yellow latex that becomes lilac after drying, and flesh that when broken stains lilac; it occurs with birch and conifers such as spruce. Lactarius controversus is a whitish to vinaceous species with pink gills and copious white unchanging latex; it grows with cottonwoods, aspen, and willows. Lactarius torminosus is a pinkish to light pinkish orange species with copious white latex that is unchanging or slowly changes to yellowish; it occurs with planted birches in urban settings. Many of these species have an acrid to bitter taste. Lactarius plumbeus is another member of this group.

Lactarius rufus SAT-03-308-04

Lactarius scrobiculatus var. canadensis SAT-97-263-11

Lactarius subflammeus SAT-00-313-04

Lactarius subflammeus Hesler and A. H. Smith

Orange to brownish orange to reddish brown lactariuses are common in our coastal conifer forests. Certain species such as Lactarius rufus are relatively easy to identify, but many others require careful observation of the latex, taste, and spore color, plus microscopic study of the cap structure and spore size and ornamentation. But, even after all that, sometimes the identity of your lactarius still is uncertain. Lactarius subflammeus is a common, small to medium-sized species with orange to reddish brown caps that are moist to subviscid and short-striate on the margin. The gills are whitish to pale pinkish buff, sometimes tinted with the cap color, and the stipe is about the same color as the cap. The latex is milk-white and unchanging, and the taste is slightly acrid. Similar species with acrid taste are L. substriatus and L. subviscidus, both of which have white latex that changes to yellow on exposure. Lactarius luculentus var. laetus has white unchanging latex and apparently a mild taste.

WAX-CAPS

The wax-caps are fungi that, at one time, were together in the large genus Hygrophorus. The wax-caps can be difficult for beginners to recognize as they include a variety of different-looking fungi, in much the same way that the large brown-spored genus Cortinarius does. The difficulty arises from the fact that the most important character, the lustrous waxy look and feel of the gills, is not easy to recognize until one has gained some experience. As in Cortinarius, however, a little field experience enables one to recognize on sight most of the species as being wax-caps. In general, they have attractive, often colorful, small to medium fruitbodies, white spores, fleshy stipes, and waxy, usually wide-spaced, gills. The waxiness, which leads to a very clean look, comes from abundant, long, narrow basidia. To test for “waxiness,” rub a piece of gill between your fingers. Aside from the waxy gills, there is little to separate many of them from genera such as Clitocybe, Mycena, Omphalina, and Marasmius. To further complicate matters, other gilled fungi possess waxy gills, and species of Gomphidius and Laccaria are especially likely to be misidentified as wax-caps at first glance.

Hygrocybe ceracea SAT-04-317-02

Most wax-caps occur in the later part of the mushroom season after the onset of colder weather. Most seem to have broad distributions, and many North American wax-caps fit European species concepts rather well. Nonetheless, much critical comparative study remains to be done to confirm these initial impressions.

Opinion among taxonomic mycologists is divided over whether the genus should be interpreted broadly, with all wax-caps placed in Hygrophorus, or in a narrower sense, with many species being shifted into a number of smaller genera. The commonest approach is a middle of the road one, with three genera being recognized. Each of them, in turn, is subdivided into groups that some mycologists would consider separate genera. Unfortunately, even this fairly conservative differentiation of genera is based mostly on microscopic characteristics, such as the arrangement of the gill trama, as seen in cross-section. Species of Hygrophorus in the narrow sense have hyphae that diverge downward and outward from a central strand, in Hygrocybe they are more or less parallel, and in Camarophyllus the hyphae are intricately interwoven. With practice, one can accurately assign most collections to one of these genera without microscopic examination based on the following suites of characters; however, even with a microscope it sometimes can be difficult.

 

• Hygrophorus (in the narrow sense): mostly medium to fairly large fruitbodies, white to dull tan or gray, or occasionally brightly colored, gills adnate to decurrent, veil lacking or present, sometimes viscid to gelatinous, causing the cap and/or stipe to be very slimy, other times leaving a fairly well formed ring. Ectomycorrhizal fungi, found predominantly in forests; uncommonly with urban trees.
• Hygrocybe: small to medium fruitbodies mostly with relatively slender stipes, colors typically very bright, cap dry to moist or viscid, gills adnexed to adnate to occasionally decurrent, veil lacking, some with very slimy or viscid stipes (but not caused by a veil, rather by gelatinous hyphae that project from the surface of the stipe). Saprotrophic fungi, found commonly in forests on leaf litter; several species also can be found in town, usually in mossy, unfertilized lawns.
• Camarophyllus: mostly small (to medium) dull-colored (white, tan, gray) fruitbodies, cap dry to viscid, stipe dry, veil lacking, gills usually decurrent. Often included in Hygrocybe. Mostly found in forests, sometimes in grass, occasionally as urban fungi. Probably saprotrophic, but not well characterized.

 

Neohygrophorus is a fourth genus erected for a single hygrophorus-like species described from Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. We treat it with the clitocybe-like mushrooms based on its overall appearance. Recent molecular analyses suggest that some small club-fungi (Typhula) and several small, clitocybe-like species in Chromosera, Chrysomphalina, Lichenomphalia, and Xeromphalina are closely related to the wax caps.

It is probable that most wax-caps are edible; however, very few are sought-after by mycophagists. As David Arora wrote, “I have yet to find one to my liking. By and large they are too bland or too watery or too bland and too watery to be worth eating.”

Hygrocybe ceracea (Fries: Fries) P. Kummer

Hygrocybe ceracea is distinguished by the small, yellow to golden orange fruitbodies, caps that are viscid at first, gills that are adnate to slightly decurrent, and dry stipe colored like the cap or paler. Although not emphasized in most descriptions, our collections were markedly hygrophanous. We have collected this species repeatedly at one site in Seattle in a mossy lawn. It is widespread in Europe but not well known in North America.

Hygrocybe conica (Schaeffer: Fries) P. Kummer

WITCH’S HAT

Hygrocybe conica is one of the easier mushrooms to identify. Its fruitbodies are mediumsized with moist to viscid, yellow, orange, or red conical caps, and pale yellowish gills and stipe; all parts blacken in age or when handled. It is perhaps the most widely distributed species in the genus, and occurs in a wide range of habitats, including forests, woodlands, and unfertilized, often mossy, grasslands or lawns. As would be expected with a highly variable fungus, several varieties have been described, differ ing in details of stature and color. Hygrocybe singeri was described from collections with particularly viscid stipes, but otherwise it seems identical to H. conica. Although normally a fall fungus, H. conica occasionally is found in spring.

Hygrocybe conica SAT-05-306-02

Hygrocybe flavescens

Hygrocybe flavescens (Kauffman) Singer

Hygrocybe flavescens is a widespread species recognized by its medium size, bright yellow-orange colors, and viscid, convex to plane cap. The cap can be orange when young, but is usually bright lemon-yellow when expanded. The stipe is about the same color as the cap, and the gills are generally a paler shade of yellow. It occurs in a wide range of forest and woodland habitats. Many mycologists differentiate H. flavescens and H. chlorophana by the moistness of the stipe, with the latter being viscid and the former merely dry to moist. However, in Europe, H. chlorophana is widely accepted as having stipes dry to moist to viscid, so it is hard to know whether these are distinct species, especially in the absence of additional correlated characters. We have used the North American name here but, if only one species is involved, then H. chlorophana would have priority.

Hygrocybe laeta (Persoon: Fries) P. Kummer

Hygrocybe laeta is a smallish, viscid, hygrophanous species that can be difficult to pick because of the heavy slime layer on the stipe. The translucent-striate cap varies greatly in color, from orange-brown to yellow-orange to pinkish red, the stipe is similar or a bit paler, and the decurrent gills are whitish to grayish to orange-pinkish, sometimes with a violet tinge. The odor, when present, is variously described as burnt rubber, fishy, skunk-like, or pleasantly herbaceous. The variation in color has led to description of a number of different varieties. Hygrocybe laeta is common in the redwood forests of north-coastal California, but less so throughout the PNW. It has been reported from many parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

Hygrocybe miniata (Fries: Fries) P. Kummer

Hygrocybe miniata is one of a large number of small red hygrocybes. It is distinguished from the others by having a dry, convex to plane, hygrophanous cap beset with small scales (check with a handlens), reddish to yellow, broadly attached to slightly decur-rent gills, reddish stipe, and bean-, corn-, or pear-shaped spores. Even using these features, it can be difficult to sort the many similar species out, and many mycologists consider various of them (H. mollis, H. moseri, H. strangulata) to be synonyms. Hygrocybe miniata occurs in small groups in a wide variety of habitats, including forests, grasslands, and mossy lawns.

Hygrocybe laeta

Hygrocybe miniata SAT-07-329-01

Hygrocybe virescens SAT-07-328-05

Hygrocybe virescens Hesler and A. H. Smith

Hygrocybe virescens is a rarely collected, medium-sized, green to greenish yellow species that is hard to confuse with any other. The cap and stipe may be moist, but are not viscid to glutinous, and the gills are whitish or tinged with lime green. Hygrocybe virescens was described from the redwood forests of northern California, and our one collection was made under redwood in a Seattle park. It is very similar to H. citrinovirens of Europe and might be synonymous with it.

Camarophyllus pratensis (Persoon: Fries) P. Kummer

As the abundance of names indicates, Camarophyllus pratensis (= Hygrocybe pratensis, Hygrophorus pratensis, Cuphophyllus pratensis) has been a very difficult fungus to classify. Fortunately, it is easier to identify. The fruitbodies typically are medium-sized and stocky, with a dry, dome-shaped, dull orangish cap, creamy decurrent gills, and orangish to whitish stipe. The stature and color vary somewhat, and so several varieties have been named. It occurs widely in the Northern Hemisphere in a variety of forest and non-forest habitats. Camarophyllus pratensis is edible, although we are not aware of it being popular.

Camarophyllus pratensis

Camarophyllus virgineus SAT-98-332-15

Camarophyllus virgineus (Wulfen: Fries) P. Kummer

Camarophyllus virgineus (= C. niveus, C. borealis) is a small to medium-sized species, white or slightly yellowish overall, sometimes with pinkish tints on the stipe base, and with a viscid cap and dry stipe. The taste is often bitter to acrid. It is widespread and common in grass and bare soil around trees in urban areas, in open grassy areas, and in conifer and hardwood forests. Other PNW camarophylluses include C. russocoriaceus, an ivory to cream-colored species with the odor of cedar wood, and C. lacmus (= C. subviolaceus), with a gray, violet-gray or brownish violet, striate, viscid cap, smoky violaceous gills, and a dry stipe that is white or tinted with cap colors.

Hygrophorus agathosmus (Fries) Fries

Hygrophorus agathosmus fruitbodies exhibit grayish to gray-brownish viscid caps, white gills, white to pale gray dry stipes, and an odor of almond extract (or sometimes said to be of anise or celery). It grows in conifer forests, particularly with spruce, and is fairly common in the PNW, northern California, and the Rocky Mountains. It is less common elsewhere in North America and also occurs in Europe and Asia. Hygrophorus odoratus is a very similar species with the same odor; it differs by being smaller and more slender with larger spores (11–14 × 6.5–8 vs. 8–10.5 × 4.5–5.5 µm). Hygrophorus agathosmus is edible, but reported to be bland and unappealing.

Hygrophorus bakerensis A. H. Smith and Hesler

Hygrophorus bakerensis is characterized by its medium to large, relatively slender-statured fruitbodies with a pleasant almond odor, and growth often on or near rotting conifer wood. The viscid cap is brown in the center and cream to white near its incurved edge, the gills and stipe are white, and the latter often appears somewhat powdery or dandruffy in the upper portion. It is common throughout the PNW and extends into northern California but is not as common there. Hygrophorus variicolor differs only in having a stipe made slimy by a gelatinous veil. If the two taxa actually represent a single species, then H. variicolor would have priority. Hygrophorus bakerensis is another edible but low-quality fungus.

Hygrophorus agathosmus SAT-04-018-01

Hygrophorus bakerensis SAT-00-285-28

Hygrophorus chrysodon SAT-00-298-19

Hygrophorus chrysodon (Batsch: Fries) P. Kummer

The epithet (Greek for “golden tooth”) refers to the most distinctive feature of this species, the golden yellow granules or minute hairs on the cap (especially the edge), stipe, and gills. Otherwise, the fruitbodies are white, or sometimes very pale yellow, small to medium-sized, and variable in stature from rather slender to fairly stocky. Hygrophorus chrysodon is widespread throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Hygrophorus eburneus (Bulliard: Fries) Fries

Hygrophorus eburneus is a medium-sized, pure white, often remarkably slimy fungus that is common in a variety of forest types throughout the PNW and elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere. The closest look-alike is H. piceae, which differs by having a less slimy cap, dry to slightly viscid stipe, and frequent association with spruce; it also is widely distributed, but is less common than H. eburneus in many areas.

Hygrophorus erubescens (Fries: Fries) Fries

The fruitbodies of this pink-splashed forest fungus are medium-sized or slightly larger, whitish with various degrees of purplish pink streaks on the cap and stipe and similarly colored spots or splotches on the mature gills, and usually develop yellow stains in age. The cap edge usually is inrolled, the gills somewhat widely spaced and decurrent, and the odor is mild to somewhat pleasant. Hygrophorus erubescens is a late summer and fall-fruiting species that occurs widely in conifer forests of the Northern Hemisphere, especially with spruce and pine. In the PNW, it is neither rare nor particularly common. The very similar H. purpurascens (Albertini and Schweinitz: Fries) Fries usually is stockier, has an often faint ring and more closely spaced gills, does not develop yellow stains, and occurs in the spring and early summer. It also is widespread in montane conifer forests. Hygrophorus capreolaris is a more evenly colored species with an overall wine-red appearance without yellow stains. Another similar species, H. amarus, is distinguished by the bitter taste of its cap surface and slightly yellowish gills. Given the gradational nature of the distinguishing traits, it is not surprising that deciding which species one has found is often extremely difficult.

Hygrophorus eburneus SAT-00-296-70

Hygrophorus erubescens SAT-05-229-01

Hygrophorus goetzii Hesler and A. H. Smith

Hygrophorus goetzii is one of the species that make up the so-called snowbank fungi of our western mountains. These mushrooms appear near, or even in, snow as it melts in the late spring and early summer. Hygrophorus goetzii produces smallish, slender, pale pink fruitbodies with viscid cap and dry stipe. Although the habitat, color, and waxy gills make it hard to confuse with anything else, its large spores (10–15 × 7–10.5 µm) furnish an additional diagnostic character. It is not encountered very often. Two other snowbank hygrophoruses are the rare blue fungus, H. caeruleus, and H. subalpinus. Hygrophorus goetzii was named in honor of Donald and Christel Goetz, pioneering members of the Oregon Mycological Society and Pacific Northwest Key Council.

Hygrophorus hypothejus (Fries: Fries) Fries

Hygrophorus hypothejus is a pine forest fungus that generally does not appear until late fall. It is recognized by its yellowish or olivaceous brown (darkest in the center), highly viscid cap, whitish to yellowish decurrent gills, and whitish to yellow viscid stipe. The fruitbodies usually develop yellowish to golden orange stains in age, a feature that allows it to be distinguished readily from other viscid, brown-capped hygrophoruses. Hygrophorus hypothejus often fruits in large groups, both singly and in loose clusters. When old, water-soaked, and frostbitten, it can be a downright unattractive fungus.

Hygrophorus purpurascens SAT-07-125-05

Hygrophorus goetzii SAT-97-176-01

Hygrophorus hypothejus

Hygrophorus olivaceoalbus (Fries: Fries) Fries

The name Hygrophorus olivaceoalbus has been applied differently by various mycologists both in Europe and North America. However, typically it is considered a fungus with a streaky, olivaceous brown or grayish brown, viscid cap (darkest in the center), white clean-looking gills, long white stipe with bands of grayish brown fibrils overlaid by a slime layer below the ring-zone, large ellipsoid spores (10–15 × 6.5–9 µm), and association with spruce. When fresh, it is a most attractive fungus. Hygrophorus persoonii is a very similar species that associates with broadleaved trees in Europe; it has been reported from California, but under spruce. A smaller species with dry stipe, H. inocybiformis, is often reported from Idaho and the Rockies, and rarely from west of the Cascades.

Hygrophorus olivaceoalbus SAT-01-321-15

Hygrophorus cf. sordidus SAT-04-304-12

Hygrophorus speciosus

Hygrophorus subalpinus SAT-07-140-06

Hygrophorus sordidus Peck

Hygrophorus sordidus is distinctive because of its large size and all-white coloration, but little else. Its caps are up to 20 cm (8 in.) in diameter and viscid, the gills attached to decurrent, and the stipe dry. The waxy gills set it apart from several clitocybes and leucopaxilluses which it otherwise resembles. Hygrophorus sordidus is fairly common under oaks in California, but much less common in the PNW. The collection in the photograph was found near the coast in Oregon’s Tillamook County, with nary an oak in sight and may represent a different species, although we were unable to find any likely candidates among those that have been described. In an amusing story, David Arora likens the H. sordidus he once used in a curry to overfed and undercooked banana slugs, hardly an image to whet one’s appetite!

Hygrophorus speciosus Peck

LARCH WAX-CAP

Hygrophorus speciosus is perhaps the most picturesque species in the genus and, when found in its typical habitat, is easily identified. When fresh, it has a brilliant reddish orange cap and white to yellow stipe, both of which are slimy. As the fruitbodies age, they become less slimy, and the cap color usually fades to orange or yellow. The decurrent gills are whitish to pale yellow. Hygrophorus speciosus is found most commonly in the inland portion of the PNW, where larch is locally abundant. Other than the color scheme and tree preference, H. speciosus and H. hypothejus are quite similar.

Hygrophorus subalpinus A. H. Smith

Hygrophorus subalpinus is a very common member of the western montane spring snowbank fungi, although it usually does not appear until after the snow has receded from its fruiting sites, in contrast to species like H. goetzii and Clitocybe glacialis, which often can be found poking their caps right through the snow. It is a pure white, short, stocky fungus that can easily be mistaken for a small Russula brevipes at first glance. The waxy gills and fibrous not-so-brittle flesh distinguish it. Among the hygrophoruses, it is recognized by its fruiting season, habitat, tendency to remain partly buried, and presence of a veil that, at times, can form a slight ring low on the stipe. Opinions vary as to the desirability of its texture, but all are unanimous in declaring it tasteless at best. Nonetheless, we have seen it for sale at Seattle-area farmers’ markets.

LEPIOTAS AND SIMILAR MUSHROOMS

Historically the genus Lepiota included a large number of species with considerable variation in size and appearance. Over time, many species have been transferred to genera such as Chlorophyllum, Macrolepiota, Leucocoprinus, Leucoagaricus, and Cystolepiota, and these have gradually gained acceptance. Recent work by Else Vellinga has shown that the lepiotas are closely related to a varied group of saprotrophic fungi, including Agaricus, Coprinus comatus, Melanophyllum, Battarrea phalloides, puff balls such as Lycoperdon and Tulostoma, and secotioid fungi such as Podaxis and Endoptychum.

The lepiotas range from small to large. The caps are mostly umbonate, campanulate to broadly convex or parasol-shaped when expanded. The cap surface often is broken into concentric patches or scales, but may also be smooth, granular, or powdery. The gills are free and usually whitish, but sometimes yellow, green, or pinkish. The stipes vary in shape, the interior is hollow, and the surface smooth, wooly, granular, or powdery. In some species, a ring is present. Microscopically, there is considerable variation in spore features and structure of the cap surface, and these are important characters in the identification of genera and species. Lepiota, Leucocoprinus, and Leucoagaricus, however, overlap in many features so that identification of species and separation of genera can be difficult even with a microscope.

Chlorophyllum olivieri SAT-07-282-02

Lepiotas are decomposers, usually occurring on the ground in association with plant litter. A few species grow on woody material, sawdust, or manure; others such as Leucoagaricus leucothites grow in lawns and other grassy areas. In temperate areas, greenhouses and houseplants often harbor warmer-climate species such as the yellow Leucocoprinus birnbaumii and the compost-dwelling L. cepistipes. Because most lepiotas dislike cold weather, in the PNW, many species occur near the coast or inland at lower elevations.

Only a few lepiotas commonly make it onto the dinner table. Macrolepiotas, Chlorophyllum rachodes, C. brunneum, and C. olivieri a re the ones most frequently mentioned as edibles. However, caution is in order with chlorophyllums: several individuals have experienced severe gastrointestinal symptoms after eating them. The toxic C. molybdites, which has not been reported in the PNW, routinely causes such poisoning. Macrolepiotas are known to accumulate heavy metals, which emphasizes the importance of not eating mushrooms collected from roadsides, areas where pesticides and herbicides are used, or other possibly contaminated areas. The most dangerous lepiotas are in the section Ovisporae of the genus Lepiota (in the narrow sense), such as L. subincarnata. These mushrooms contain amatoxins and have caused a number of fatalities. Thus, it is wise to avoid eating all small lepiotas.

Chlorophyllum Massee

The once monotypic genus Chlorophyllum (“green leaves,” from the color of the mature gills) has been redefined in recent years to include not just the green-spored C. molybdites but additional species including the secotioid Endoptychum agaricoides. Now typical chlorophyllums are large, the caps have large more or less flattened, pale brown or grayish to olivaceous scales, the smooth stipes have a distinct ring, the gills are free, and the spores are white or green. The species are often widespread and frequently found in areas such as parks, edges of woods, and compost heaps.

Chlorophyllum rachodes (Vittadini) Vellinga, C. brunneum (Farlow and Burt) Vellinga, and C. olivieri (Barla) Vellinga occur in our area, and all have been called “Lepiota rachodes” because of difficulty in distinguishing one from another. All have whitish spores, and the flesh of fresh specimens when bruised turns orange and then more brownish over time. Chlorophyllum olivieri can be distinguished from C. brunneum and C. rachodes by the nearly uniform color of the cap, as the color of both the scales and background is grayish brown to olivaceous brown. Chlorophyllum olivieri can be common in the fall in urban areas as well as at the edges of woods. Chlorophyllum brunneum and C. rachodes are very similar. Both have caps with brownish patches and scales over a whitish background except for the center, which usually is smooth and brownish; they frequently grow in clusters. Chlorophyllum brunneum has a distinct, often abrupt-rimmed bulbous stipe base and a single ring with a brownish underside. Chlorophyllum rachodes has a bulbous, but not rimmed, stipe base, and the ring has two distinct layers. Both species occur on plant debris in gardens, compost piles, and other disturbed areas. All three species are commonly collected for the table, but be aware that some individuals are severely poisoned by them. The toxic C. molybdites has not been reported in the PNW, but it is common in central and southern California and other warm parts of the u.S. It has green spores and the gills are greenish when mature, but otherwise it is quite similar to the other chlorophyllums.

Chlorophyllum brunneum

Chlorophyllum rachodes

Lepiota felina (Persoon) P. Karsten

Lepiota felina is generally similar to several other small to medium-sized lepiotas for which microscopic examination of the spores and structure of the cap cuticle is important for determination of species. It has a broadly convex cream-white cap with a very dark brown center, concentric zones of small brown patches, and radially arranged matted squamules at the margin. The gills are white to faintly pinkish, the cap flesh is white and non-staining, and the odor is like cedar wood or somewhat unpleasant and rubbery. The stipe is whitish to pale brownish above the ring and pinkish brown to grayish brown with zones of brownish squa-mules below. The ring is cuff-like and typically is adorned with brownish squamulose patches. The spores are ellipsoid to oblong, and the cap cuticle is composed of tufts of long erect elements that arise from clavate cells. Lepiota felina is not common in the PNW.

Lepiota felina SAT-05-303-02

Lepiota magnispora

Lepiota magnispora Murrill

Lepiota magnispora (= L. ventriosospora, L. fusispora) is one of several lepiotas collected near Seattle by W. A. Murrill in the early 1900s. However, this name was largely ignored for nearly a century, and our mushrooms all were called L. clypeolaria. While the latter species does occur in the PNW, it is much less common than L. magnispora. The two are very similar in size and overall shaggy appearance and both often have an unpleasant odor. Lepiota magnispora is the more variable—most often the center of the cap is distinctly brown, while the edge is whitish, but sometimes it is more uniformly brownish overall. The stipe usually is cloaked with ragged white to yellowish veil remnants. Lepiota clypeolaria has a less contrasty cap, with a pale brown center that gradually fades toward the edge, and the veil remnants on the stipe are white, never yellow. The surest way to separate the two is by spore shape—those of L. magnispora look a bit like penguins (Else Vellinga’s apt term) in profile, or fat bellies (according to Kew mycologist Derek Reid). In contrast, those of L. clypeolaria are somewhat almond-shaped or like segments of an orange. The spores are large in both species, but more so in L. magnispora (15–21 vs. 11–18.5 µm in length). Lepiota cortinarius has somewhat the appearance of these two species but is pinkish brown to pinkish orange-brown and has short, narrow, cylindrical spores.

Lepiota subincarnata J. Lange

Lepiota subincarnata (= L. helveola, L. josserandii) is medium-sized and somewhat stocky, with caps that are pinkish red to reddish brown at the center and cream to pinkish cream toward the margin, which typically bears concentric rings of small pinkish red to reddish brown patches. The gills are whitish and the cap flesh is white to slightly pink under the cap surface. The stipes are cylindrical or slightly enlarged at the base, cream to pinkish in the upper part, and, below the ring-zone, cream with small zones or incomplete bands colored like the cap. The odor is slightly fruity and the taste is unpleasant. The spores are oblong and the cap surface is composed of long, vertical elements that do not have clavate cells at their base. Lepiota subincarnata and its close relatives contain amatoxins, the same deadly substances found in Amanita phalloides and the other destroying angels, so make a point of avoiding all small lepiotas when collecting for the table. Lepiota subincarnata is widespread in summer and fall in wooded areas, but also occurs frequently in rich soil in parks and gardens.

Lepiota subincarnata SAT-95-283-02

Leucoagaricus barssii SAT-92-312-01

Leucoagaricus barssii (Zeller) Vellinga

Leucoagaricus translates to “white agaricus” and, accordingly, many species in this genus have the aspect of an agaricus, but with whitish rather than brown spores. One of the first mycologists to come to the PNW, plant pathologist S. M. Zeller did research on mushrooms as well. He named Leucoagaricus barssii (as Lepiota barssii) from collections made on agricultural lands in Oregon. It is a medium to large mushroom characterized by a conspicuously hairy to fibril-lose gray to gray-brown cap, with a whitish margin and fringe when young. The whitish gills are crowded, and the stipe is stout, tapered toward the base, whitish, and discolors brownish when handled. The veil is somewhat fragile and may leave a ring or remain attached to the edge of the cap. When formed, the ring is whitish above and brownish below. Leucoagaricus barssii is widespread but not particularly common, occurring in sandy or loamy soils.

Leucoagaricus leucothites (Vittadini) Wasser

Leucoagaricus leucothites (long called Lepiota naucinus in North America) is a widespread mushroom that occurs mostly in grassy areas, gardens, and other human-influenced habitats, but also occasionally in forests. It has the aspect of an agaricus, but its white to pale pink spores distinguish it. The cap often has a fine granular texture and in the typical form is white at first, then often develops grayish colors. The gills are crowded and white at first, then may become grayish or pinkish. The stipe is whitish to grayish brown and may discolor yellowish or pinkish. A distinct whitish to grayish ring is usually present. When bruised, the flesh may turn yellowish and the gills may redden. Leucoagaricus leucothites is eaten by many people but is not considered choice by most. Its similarity to the white destroying angels causes us to recommend avoiding it as an edible.

Leucoagaricus leucothites, white form

Leucoagaricus leucothites, gray form

Leucoagaricus rubrotinctoides

Leucoagaricus rubrotinctoides Murrill

Leucoagaricus rubrotinctoides is a very common and conspicuous species of our coastal and lower elevation forests. It is mediumsized and has a convex to more broadly expanded cap that is some shade of reddish brown to pinkish brown; the margin soon splits and exposes the whitish flesh so that it has radiating lines of reddish to pinkish brown color. The gills are white and do not stain or discolor. The stipe is whitish, club-shaped or enlarged at the base, and typically has a thin, fragile, movable ring that is white with pinkish tints on the underside. Leucoagaricus rubrotinctoides generally has been called L. rubrotinctus, a species from eastern North America.

Leucocoprinus brebissonii (Godey) Locquin

Leucocoprinuses typically are thin-fleshed with a radially pleated cap and tendency to look collapsed with age, as if partially deliquescent. The mushrooms are mostly small to medium-sized and, in cooler climates such as ours, mostly occur in greenhouses, compost piles, and indoor plants. Leucocoprinus brebissonii, however, is a woodland species. The center of its cap is very dark gray-brown to almost black and the margin is white but decorated with small gray-brown to blackish scales. The gills are crowded and white and the stipe is slender and clavate, white with pinkish brown in the lower part, and bearing a white somewhat fragile ring that often is lost with age. The spores are thick-walled with a distinct germ pore. Leucocoprinus brebissonii often appears in late spring but is most abundant in summer, often occurring in large groups on forest litter. It has been very common in recent years, seemingly appearing overnight, especially in second-growth forests in the Puget Sound lowlands, and it is hard to understand how such an abundant species could have been overlooked in the past. Perhaps its summer occurrence caused it to go unnoticed. Another possibility is that it has been misidentified as the somewhat similar Lepiota atrodisca, a species described from Oregon and also reported from California. Clearly more work is needed to solve this puzzle.

Leucocoprinus brebissonii SAT-07-204-04

Leucocoprinus ianthinus occurs in potted plants

Leucocoprinus ianthinus (Cooke) Locquin

In the PNW, we have at least four greenhouse or compost leucocoprinuses—one is a yellow species related to Leucocoprinus birnbaumii, the second is L. cepistipes, the third is L. heinemannii, and the fourth is L. ianthinus (= L. lilacinogranulosus). The cap has a finely scaly, purplish to reddish brown center and white margin, often with small purplish fibrils. The gills are white with a slight lilac tint, and the stipe is club-shaped and white to yellowish with purplish fibrils on the lower portion. The ring is white with a purplish edge, and it may disappear in age.

Leucocoprinus ianthinus SAT-99-198-01

Cystoderma Fayod

Historically, species in the small genus Cystoderma were considered closely related to lepiotas and, in fact, some cystodermas originally were placed in Lepiota. Cystodermas are small to medium-sized mushrooms characterized by dry, granular or powdery veil remnants covering the cap and lower portion of the stipe, and often leaving small tooth-like fragments on the edge of the cap. For such a small group of mushrooms there is a lot of variation in color, from whitish to pinkish or vinaceous brown to ocher-brown or orange-brown to brick-red. The gills are pale and only slightly attached to the stipe, often appearing almost free. A well-defined ring or less distinct ring-zone is often present. The spores are white, those of some species are amyloid, and a few species produce crystal-covered, harpoon-shaped cheilocystidia. Cystodermas occur in forests, often among grasses and mosses, and can be very abundant in some seasons. The mushrooms often persist for a long time after they mature. It seems unlikely that the cystodermas form a natural evolutionary group, and their relationships to other mushrooms are not yet clear. Phaeolepiota aurea is larger and has a yellowish brown spore-print, but otherwise is very similar. The cystodermas with non-amyloid spores are placed in the genus Cystodermella by some mycologists.

Cystoderma amianthinum (Scopoli) Fayod

Cystoderma amianthinum is a widespread species found in moss along road edges and open grassy areas. The color of the finely granular cap and the covering below the poorly defined ring varies from yellow-ocher and yellow-orange to brownish yellow or more ochraceous to olivaceous. Some forms have a highly wrinkled cap surface; others have white to pale yellow coloration. The gills are white to pale yellowish, the odor is disagreeable or somewhat like freshly husked corn, and the spores are amyloid.

Cystoderma fallax A. H. Smith and Singer

Cystoderma fallax is distinctive because of its large, flaring, membranous ring. The color of the cap and lower stipe is cinnamon-brown or rusty orange-brown and the gills are white, often with a pinkish tint. It occurs in a variety of habitats, including conifer, mixed, and hardwood forests on litter, humus, rotting wood, and in mosses. Cystoderma fallax apparently occurs only in western North America but is similar to C. granosum of eastern North America. Both species have amyloid spores.

Cystoderma amianthinum

Cystoderma fallax

Cystoderma granulosum SAT-00-296-07

Cystoderma granulosum (Batsch) Fayod

Cystoderma granulosum is common, widespread, and highly variable. The cap ranges from dark red-brown to orange-brown, sometimes with a paler margin, and the gills are white to pale yellowish. It is very similar to C. amianthinum and similar to C. terreyi; however, it lacks the harpoon-shaped cheilocystidia of C. terreyi. Both C. granulosum and C. terreyi can be distinguished from C. amianthinum by their non-amyloid spores.

Cystoderma terreyi (Berkeley and Broome) Harmaja

Cystoderma terreyi (= C. cinnabarinum) has an orange-red to bright brick-red cap that sometimes becomes darker red when handled. The gills are thin, white to creamy, and often crowded, and the ring-zone is faint. The flesh has a strong pungent or farinaceous odor. Cystoderma terreyi is fairly common, occurring on litter in conifer and hardwood forests, often in moss beds. Without a microscope to check for its harpoon-shaped cheilocystidia, it can be difficult to separate from C. granulosum.

Cystoderma terreyi SAT-05-282-08

GENUS AMANITA

Amanitas arguably are the best-known gilled mushrooms for a number of reasons. They are mostly large and conspicuous; many, such as Amanita muscaria, are brightly colored; some, such as A. caesarea, are good edibles; the destroying angels, such as A. phalloides, contain deadly poisons; and nearly all have a distinctive elegant look. Amanita is a widely distributed genus and occurs in a variety of forested and urban habitats, open areas with scattered trees and shrubs, and alpine and arctic habitats. Nearly all the PNW species appear to be ectomycorrhizal.

The genus is characterized by having white (usually) spores, free or nearly free gills, a universal veil that leaves remnants on the stipe base and often on the cap, and often a partial veil that often leaves a ring. The remnants of the universal veil, either those on the lower stipe (the volva) or those on the cap (as warts or a patch), constitute one of the critical characters used for species identification. When membranous and fairly tough, the veil can leave large patches of tissue on the cap and a well-formed sac-like volva around the stipe base. However, the veil often is more fragile and almost powdery and, in this case, may leave behind only small bits of tissue or a powdery covering on the cap, and bands or patches of tissue or a powdery covering on the lower stipe, sometimes with a free rim or collar at the top of a bulbous stipe base. Because of the importance of the volva for identification of amanitas, the fact that the volva often is quite fragile and easily overlooked, and the possibility of a fatal mistake, it is vitally important to always excavate the entire mushroom when collecting and carefully inspect the residual soil for fragments of the stipe or volva. The spores are smooth, usually ellipsoid to nearly globose, and may be amyloid or non-amyloid. Cystidia typically are lacking or hard to distinguish.

Amanitas often are confused with a number of larger mushrooms—for instance Amanita ocreata or A. bisporigera (white destroying angels) with Agaricus silvicola, Amanita phalloides with Tricholoma flavovirens, and A. smithiana with T. magnivelare. However, carefully noting the (usually) white gills and spores, remnants of partial (usually) and universal veils, and, especially, the elegant amanita look, which is easily recognized with a modicum of experience, in most cases will avoid confusion. In addition, young unopened amanita buttons sometimes are confused with puff balls; however, cutting a “puffball” in half to look for the outline of a developing mushroom versus uniformly marshmallow-like tissue will allow them to be told apart easily. The PNW has far fewer amanitas than eastern North America; however, most of the subgroups within the genus are represented by at least one species here.

Amanita aprica SAT-07-161-02

Amanita aprica Lindgren and Tulloss

JAN’S YELLOW FRIEND

In the PNW, we have several species in the Amanita muscaria group, and often they fruit in abundance. In early spring, two species in this group appear—A. aprica and A. pantherina. Later in spring and summer, A. gemmata joins them and often persists with A. pantherina until much later in the season, while A. aprica declines. Amanita aprica has a bright yellow to yellow-orange or orange cap decorated with remnants of the thin, frosty whitish universal veil, either as warts or larger patches. In dry weather, these patches present a sense of butter being spread too thinly over a slice of toast. The gills are whitish and the stipe is equal or somewhat enlarged at the base and colored like the gills. The volva is pressed tightly to the stipe base, usually forming zones, and sometimes has a free margin. The partial veil often leaves a whitish, fragile, skirt-like ring that may disappear with age. Amanita aprica can be locally abundant in mixed conifer forests, particularly with Douglas-fir, and occasionally occurs with conifers in urban areas.

Amanita constricta Thiers and Ammirati

Amanita constricta, described from California, is a member of the A. vaginata group. In the vaginatas, the cap varies from white to various shades of brown and gray to, occasionally, brighter colors such as salmonorange. Usually the edge of the cap has long deep striations, and the center may bear a membranous patch. The universal veil also forms a slender sac-like, often reddish-stained, volva around the base of the stipe. The vaginatas lack a partial veil, so there is no ring, and usually have equal, rather than bulbous, stipes. The gills are white but may be grayish, or with edges that are grayish or more darkly colored. The spores are nonamyloid. The group contains a number of edible species but, given the difficulties in their identification, we do not recommend them for the table.

Identification of species in the vaginata group is challenging because there are few well-understood species concepts. All too often, European names have been applied to our fungi based on superficial comparisons, and no detailed study of the PNW vaginatas has been undertaken. Thus, we no doubt have several undescribed species here and, while one can assign collections to the vaginata group, getting to a species name is difficult or impossible, even with technical literature and access to a microscope.

Amanita constricta is characterized by a gray-brown to brown cap, white to grayish or gray-brown-tinged gills, small white to buff or grayish patches on the cap, and a delicate sac-like volva, the lower portion of which is attached to the stipe base and is constricted above before flaring outward at the upper edge. The volva may or may not develop reddish stains. Amanita constricta has been reported from both hardwood and conifer forests but, given the identification difficulties, its habitat preferences remain to be clarified.

Amanita constricta SAT-99-296-03

Amanita franchetii (Boudier) Fayod

Historically, the name Amanita aspera has been used for this species. More recently, it has been called A. franchetii, but that name too might be incorrect—we could have an undescribed species here in the PNW. Whatever its name, our mushroom is easily recognized. It first appears in early summer and fruits well into fall. It produces medium-sized to larger fruitbodies with a brown to gray-brown or yellowish brown cap with mealy warts that are yellow then grayish and flattened in age. The gills are white to yellowish and closely spaced. The stipe is relatively thick, enlarged at the base, and white to yellowish. The volva forms zones of loose bits of yellow veil on the stipe base, which often drop off into the surrounding soil. The partial veil leaves an ample ring that is white above and yellow below and on the edge. Amanita franchetii often occurs with A. porphyria and A. gemmata in mature forests. It has been reported as toxic when eaten raw or only partially cooked.

Amanita gemmata (Fries) Bertillon

The use of the name Amanita gemmata for our PNW representative(s) of this group has long been debated, and likely will continue to be. In this region, A. gemmata appears in late spring or early summer and continues into fall. In addition to occurring in forests, it can be found under trees in suburban and urban areas, similar to A. aprica, A. pantherina, and A. muscaria. Amanita gemmata is a medium-sized species with a creamy, pale yellow or darker yellow cap with striations at the edge. The outer veil leaves whitish patches or warts on the cap and a short, close-fitting volva with a collar or free rim, and sometimes loose patches around the basal bulb. The gills are closely spaced and white. The stipe is more or less fleshy, white to pale cream and usually floccose on the lower surface. The partial veil is white and leaves a somewhat fragile, white, skirt-like ring that may be lost by maturity. Some forms of this species are small and slender while others are large and robust.

Amanita franchetii

Amanita gemmata

Amanita lanei

Amanita lanei (Murrill) Saccardo and Trotter

COCCOLI

Amanita lanei (= A. calyptrata, A. calyptroderma) is most common in California but extends along the coast northward into the PNW. It occurs in mixed conifer-hardwood forest, often occurring with madrone and oak, and can be abundant in years with early fall rains. The fruitbodies typically are large with orange to brown and yellow caps with a large, thick, white cottony patch over the center, and striations along the margin. The gills are white to creamy yellow and close. The stipe is similar in color to the gills, with a delicate, skirt-like ring, and a large, thick, cottony to felty (sometimes double) sac-like volva around the base. The buttons can be quite large and reminiscent of cottony eggs. The spores are non-amyloid. Amanita lanei is closely related to A. caesarea and, like it, is edible and quite good in the opinion of many mycophagists. But beware! The deadly A. phalloides produces fruitbodies that often are similar in size, stature, and color to A. lanei, and the two species can occur in the same forests at the same time, so be absolutely positive of your identification if you decide to gather A. lanei for the table. A mistake could be your last!

Amanita phalloides, on the left, is deadly poisonous, whereas A. lanei, on the right, is a good edible. Thus, being sure of your identifications is critical.

Amanita muscaria (Linnaeus: Fries) Lamarck

FLY AGARIC

With its bright red cap and white “polka dots,” the typical Amanita muscaria no doubt is the most widely recognized mushroom in the world. However, it is highly variable and different forms have received names that have never quite caught on. These are based primarily on two variables—first, the color of the cap, which ranges from white to yellows and oranges, to deep red and even brown, and second, whether the universal veil is white or yellowish. Different combinations of these two features have produced a number of forms that usually are referred to as varieties. The names and distributions of these varieties, as well as other forms of A. muscaria, are currently being studied. We have illustrated three color forms that occur in the PNW—var. flavivolvata, the commonest one in natural habitats, with red cap and yellowish veil remnants; a paler form common with planted birches and under spruce and pine, with orange cap and white veil remnants; and a rather uncommon one, with white cap and veil remnants. Variety muscaria, with red cap and pure white veil remnants, has been reported from Alaska, but not from more southerly portions of the PNW.

All the forms have striate cap margins, rings that may or may not persist into maturity, and volvas in the form of rings of loose tissue that extend part way up the stipe from a bulbous base. Along with Amanita gemmata, A. pantherina, and A. aprica, all contain ibotenic acid. Thus, they cause accidental poisonings but also are sought-after by some who seek their psychoactive effects, and A. muscaria has been used ritualistically in areas such as Siberia. Amanita regalis is a related brownish to ocher species that has a boreal distribution, including Alaska.

Amanita pachycolea D. E. Stuntz in

Thiers and Ammirati Amanita pachycolea, a very large species in the vaginata group, can be one of the more spectacular amanitas in the PNW. Its cap is large, brown to very dark brown, sometimes paler near the margin, and always with long striations at the margin. The gills are white with distinct gray to brown edges, and develop orange-brown stains in age. The stipe is long and thick, with a white to brownish fibrillose-scaly surface. The base is surrounded by a large, thick, felty volva, that is white at first but soon develops rust to brown or yellow colors, and in age can be entirely rust-colored. There is no ring.

Amanita pachycolea SAT-00-251-35

Amanita muscaria var. flavivolvata

Amanita muscaria, orange-capped form

Amanita muscaria, white-capped form

Amanita pantherina (Candolle: Fries) Krombholz

Like clockwork in late winter to early spring, an amanita in the Amanita pantherina complex appears, especially in urban areas. Other members of this group fruit through summer and fall in a variety of habitats. They come in a variety of color forms, from pale yellowish tan ones that are similar to A. gemmata to dark brown ones that are more like classical European A. pantherina. The mushrooms are medium-sized or larger, the cap has striations on the margin, and the universal veil leaves conspicuous whitish warts and patches on the cap and a close-fitting volva with a distinct free rim (like slightly rolling back the top of a sock) around the bulbous stipe base. The gills are white and closely spaced, and the partial veil is white and leaves a skirt-like ring on the stipe. Amanita pantherina causes a number of accidental human and dog poisonings, especially puppies, and also is consumed intentionally for its psychoactive effects. Typically the ibotenic acid concentrations are higher in this species than in A. muscaria, and are highest in the dark brown forms. Here, again, applying a European name to a western North American mushroom might be incorrect. Our mushrooms may well not be “real” A. pantherina.

Amanita pantherina, dark brown form SAT-00-076-01

Amanita pantherina, medium brown form SAT-99-139-02

Amanita phalloides SAT-99-276-01

Amanita phalloides (Fries: Fries) Link

DEATH CAP

Amanita phalloides and its relative A. ocreata Peck, both members of the destroying angel group, definitely occur in the PNW. A third relative, A. verna, has been reported twice from the PNW, but these collections may well have been A. ocreata, as there is a question over whether A. verna occurs anywhere in North America. All these species can cause deadly poisoning, and it is important to keep them in mind when collecting for the table. The destroying angels have the following features in common—fleshy medium-sized to large fruitbodies, non-striate cap margin, white gills that may be slightly attached or free, a membranous outer veil that leaves a sac-like volva on the enlarged stipe base and sometimes a patch on the cap, and a partial veil that typically forms a ring that often disappears in age. All have white amyloid spores.

Amanita phalloides usually has an olive to greenish yellow or yellowish brown to bronze cap, often with darker streaks, but not striations, on the margin; occasionally it occurs in a white form. It has been introduced into North America and has become naturalized in the forests of the San Francisco Bay region. It typically occurs in fall. In urban areas, A. phalloides occurs with a variety of trees including oak; it also is found in hazel (filbert) orchards and may well become established in natural forested areas of the PNW. Amanita ocreata is similar in size and stature to A. phalloides, but is an all-white species, sometimes with pinkish tan overtones. In the PNW, it is found in spring in mixed woods, especially with oak, hazel, and cottonwood. Before collecting mushrooms for the table learn the distinguishing features of these deadly amanitas, and remember to be particularly careful when collecting white mushrooms and those that have olive, greenish, or yellowish colors.

Amanita porphyria Albertini and Schweinitz: Fries

Amanita porphyria can be found in our conifer forests during the latter part of summer and into fall. It is medium-sized with a gray to gray-brown cap with violet or reddish gray tones. usually there are small, grayish warts or patches of veil tissue on the cap surface and around the margin of the distinctly bulbous stipe base. The gills are white to grayish and darken when bruised, and the stipe is whitish above the ring and below it covered with grayish or grayish violet fibrils. The partial veil leaves a thin gray ring that may collapse onto the stipe. The odor is said to resemble that of raw potatoes or radish. Amanita porphyria often can be found in mid-August with A. gemmata and A. franchetii in established conifer forests.

Amanita ocreata SAT-98-046-02

Amanita porphyria SAT-97-263-12

Amanita silvicola Kauffman

Amanita silvicola, a small to medium-sized species with a short, stout stipe in relation to the cap diameter, is one of two chalk-white amanitas in our region that have a soft, white, cottony outer veil. The other, A. smithiana, is a usually larger species with a long rooting stipe that tapers upward from a spindle-shaped base. Amanita silvicola usually pushes up the litter or soil from a deep-seated, club-shaped or rimmed stipe base. The outer veil covers the cap and leaves a slight rim of tissue around the stipe base. The partial veil also is soft and fragile and leaves a floccose zone on the upper stipe when the cap expands; typically the surface of the stipe has a soft powdery to cottony covering. The gills are white, close, and have floccose edges. The edibility of A. silvicola is uncertain, but its close relationship to A. smithiana should preclude anyone from eating it.

Amanita smithiana Bas (= A. solitaria) features a small to medium-sized cap and long rooting stipe that is enlarged at the point where it enters the substrate (either soil or well-rotted wood). The outer veil leaves a coating on the cap, sometimes on the cap edge, and around the enlarged portion of the stipe. The gills are close to crowded, whitish or slightly pinkish. As in A. silvicola the lower stipe is coated with a soft white covering that comes off if you touch it. The partial veil is fragile and leaves a ragged, floccose zone on the upper stipe. If you are a matsutake enthusiast, be sure to learn A. smithiana because it contains a toxin that damages the kidneys, and has been involved in several severe poisonings (see Appendix 1). It occurs in conifer and mixed woods and has been reported with a variety of tree hosts including alder. The species epithet honors Alexander Smith.

Amanita silvicola

Amanita smithiana

Clitocybe albirhiza SAT-98-172-01

GENUS CLITOCYBE AND SIMILAR MUSHROOMS

In its original sense, Clitocybe included a diverse group of white- to yellowish-spored mushrooms with adnate to decurrent gills and funnel-shaped fruitbodies. It included both small and large species, all typically with a central, slender to fleshy stipe, no veils, and saprotrophic on soil, litter, or sometimes decaying wood. Omphalinas—represented by small, thin-fleshed, rather brittle funnel-caps—often have been included in Clitocybe. For convenience, we treat them with the similarly small mycenas. Recent molecular data have shown that the typical clitocybe stature occurs in several evolutionary lines, and so several new genera have been created including Clitocybula, Cleistocybe, Infundibulicybe, and Ampulloclitocybe. Usually microscopic examination is required to distinguish these from one another. Most mushroomers rightfully consider clitocybes to be a challenging group taxonomically. In addition, they include several toxic species and few with any culinary value, and so rarely receive much attention.

Well-developed white rhizomorphs at the base of the stipe of Clitocybe albirhiza

Clitocybe albirhiza H. E. Bigelow and A. H. Smith

Clitocybe albirhiza is one of the western snow bank mushrooms and typically occurs in the spring and early summer following snowmelt, often at the same time as C. glacialis. It occurs in clusters or is scattered in conifer litter in montane forests and at times is abundant. Its species epithet refers to the abundant white mycelial strands that extend from the stipe base. The mushrooms are generally small to medium-sized but can become robust. The caps often have a whitish bloom at first, and the underlying color varies from pale buff to pinkish buff, or more brownish; moist caps are typically darker-colored and often have concentric color-zones, while drier caps are usually paler and opaque. Mature caps are broadly depressed to funnel-shaped with an elevated margin. The gills are short decurrent to adnate, close, and pale buff to pinkish buff. The stipes are fibrous and tough, and colored like the cap surface. The taste is bitter. Clitocybe ramigena is a similar species that occurs in spring and summer on wood and debris. It is somewhat smaller and apparently does not have a bitter taste.

Clitocybe avellaneialba SAT-05-274-02

Clitocybe clavipes SAT-98-311-02

Clitocybe avellaneialba Murrill

Clitocybe avellaneialba (= Ampulloclitocybe avellaneialba) is a western species that occurs from northern California northward in the coastal forests and east to Idaho. It is associated with conifers, typically on very decayed logs or woody debris, usually appearing in fall and extending late into the season. Clitocybe avellaneialba is usually a medium-sized species but can be smaller or rather robust. It has a dark brown to olive-brown, funnel-shaped cap with inrolled edge and dark radial lines (not striations) on the margin which are distinctive in fresh specimens. In age, the cap often fades and the margin becomes paler and less noticeably lined. The stipe is relatively long and fleshy, typically the same color as the cap, usually with a pattern of longitudinal fibrils, and equal or somewhat enlarged below. The gills are whitish and long decurrent, close to subdistant. The spores are long, narrow, and fusoid.

Clitocybe clavipes (Persoon: Fries) P. Kummer

Clitocybe clavipes (= Ampulloclitocybe clavipes) is a common widespread species that occurs in conifer and mixed woods as well as other habitats. It typically produces gray to gray-brown or slightly olive-tinted caps that are darker in the center, usually moist, and often coated with fine matted fibrils. The stipe is club-shaped (hence the epithet), whitish with a coating of fibrils colored like the cap, and covered at the base with tomentum. The gills are often forked, whitish to pale yellowish, and close to more widely spaced. When fresh the fruitbodies smell like grape bubble gum. Clitocybe clavipes zoomed into fame some years ago when it was reported that, similar to Coprinopsis atramentaria (see Appendix 1), it can be toxic when consumed with alcohol.

Clitocybe connata (Schumacher) Gillet Large clusters of this conspicuous white mushroom are encountered commonly along roadsides, ski slopes, edges of woods, and similar areas in bare soil or low vegetation. Often gray when young, the caps of this medium-sized mushroom soon become whitish with watery buff areas in wet weather, and fade to chalky white when dry. The gills are whitish to yellowish or somewhat pinkish buff, close to crowded, and adnate to moderately decurrent. The stipes are whitish then discolored in age, fibrillose to minutely scaly below, and often fused into clusters at their bases. A drop of iron sulfate turns the cap and gills violet in one to two minutes. Clitocybe connata has been known by several names, the most common being Lyophyllum connatum in Europe and C. dilatata in the PNW; it has also been interpreted as C. cerussata var. difformis. Clitocybe connata has been thought to contain muscarine and other bioactive compounds, but also has been reported as a good edible in western Montana, with a flavor like asparagus. Given this uncertainty, we do not recommend it for the table.

Clitocybe diatreta (Fries: Fries)

P. Kummer

There are a number of smaller clitocybes that fruit in abundance on litter under trees. Their identification is challenging because they have few distinctive features to use in separating similar species. Clitocybe diatreta has shallowly depressed caps, with striate edge and a somewhat pruinose surface at first, pinkish to pinkish brown or vinaceous buff and darkest in the center when moist, then fading to very pale colors on drying. The gills are white then pinkish or buff, close and usually short decurrent. The stipe is colored like the cap, equal or slightly enlarged downward, with tomentum on the base that often is entangled in needles. Clitocybe diatreta occurs from our area across northern North America and Europe in needle beds under various conifers.

Clitocybe connata

Clitocybe diatreta SAT-97-264-01

Clitocybe epichysium

Clitocybe glacialis SAT-03-153-06

Clitocybe epichysium (Persoon) H. E.
Bigelow

This small, dark funnel-cap (recently transferred to the genus Arrhenia) is common on conifer and hardwood logs and stumps in North America and Europe. It has a small, watery dark brown to blackish cap that is finely translucent-striate when fresh, then fades to pale gray or gray-brown. The gills are narrow, gray to gray-brown, decurrent, and often end at a collar around the stipe apex. The stipe is usually equal, colored like the cap, and with white or pale tomentum where attached to the substrate. This mushroom has the appearance of an omphalina and has been placed in that genus by some mycologists. The similarly shaped Lichenomphalia umbellifera also frequents logs and stumps but is paler in color.

Clitocybe glacialis Redhead, Ammirati,
Norvell, and Seidl

When fresh, this common western snowbank mushroom (until recently Lyophyllum montanum) has a pale gray to silvery gray cap, but older specimens develop gray-brown or yellow-brown colors, changing so much as to appear to be a different mushroom. The gills are close and grayish, and darken somewhat with age. The stipe is equal, colored like the cap, somewhat fibrillose below and with a dense covering of white strands at the base. Clitocybe glacialis often can be found with C. albirhiza and Melanoleuca angelesiana and is easily confused with the latter when mature. However, melanoleucas have spores with amyloid ornamentation while those of C. glacialis are smooth and non-amyloid.

Clitocybe nebularis (Fries) P. Kummer
Clitocybe nebularis occurs in a variety of forests, often appearing along woodland trails late in fall. The cap is broad with an incurved edge, and is grayish to brownish gray with radiating fibrils on the margin. The gills are whitish, adnate to short-decur-rent, close, and often forked. The stipe is large, fleshy, and enlarged at the base, with a whitish surface that is coated with light gray-brown fibrils. Clitocybe nebularis usually has an unpleasant odor, described as like skunk cabbage or rodent cages, or just strongly farinaceous; however, sometimes an odor is lacking. It is among the largest of clitocybe-like mushrooms, another being Leucopaxillus giganteus, which differs primarily by its whiter color and amyloid spores, and C. geotropa, which has a buff to pale pinkish brown cap.

Clitocybe nuda (Bulliard: Fries) H. E.
Bigelow and A. H. Smith

BLEWIT

Because of its tricholoma-like stature and pale pinkish roughened spores, the blewit (from “blue hat”) has been classified both as a tricholoma and a lepista; however, recent studies suggest it is most closely related to species of Clitocybe. Whatever its scientific name, the blewit is well known to mushroomers because of its widespread occurrence, abundance, and edibility. It is typically medium-sized or larger with a convex, smooth, almost waxy-appearing cap, adnate to slightly decurrent, close gills, and stout, fleshy stipe that often is enlarged at the base. The color typically includes violet, purple, lavender, or bluish colors, although the caps and stipes can develop gray to tan or brownish tones at times and often are watery tan in age. The odor is pleasant. Blewits can occur in forests but more often are found in lawns, gardens, and parks, sometimes in compost heaps or other yard waste. The name C. glaucocana is used for a form that occurs in the mountains. Clitocybe tarda is similar in color, but smaller and more slender and usually grows in grass.

Clitocybe sinopica (Fries) P. Kummer This small mushroom can be found at almost any time of year, often on bare soil. It has a shallow depressed orange-brown to brown cap that becomes finely scaly with age, close whitish, short-decurrent gills that are somewhat fragile, and an equal to tapered stipe that is colored like the cap and has white tomentum and mycelial strands at the base. The odor is farinaceous. Clitocybe sinopica is similar to C. squamulosa and C. mitis; however, the latter has a mild odor.

Clitocybe nebularis

Clitocybe nebularis Clitocybe nuda SAT-04-324-01

Clitocybe sinopica

Clitocybe squamulosa

Clitocybe subditopoda SAT-00-313-49

Clitocybe squamulosa (Persoon: Fries) P. Kummer

Clitocybe squamulosa (= Infundibulicybe sinopicoides) is a widespread, often common, and variable species. The mushrooms are small to somewhat larger, broadly funnel-shaped, and usually watery brown to tan usually with some cinnamon or pink mixed in, and paler pinkish buff in age. The specific epithet refers to the small, often obscure scales that occur in the center of the cap, sometimes extending to the margin. The stipe is colored like the cap, with tomentum at the base and a few white strands. The gills are decurrent, often forked, and whitish to pinkish buff in contrast to the darker cap and stipe. The odor is fungoid to farinaceous. In western North America vars. montana and sicca have been described, but these are difficult to separate from one another and from var. squamulosa. Clitocybe squamulosa occurs on needles under conifers and in mixed woods with alder, but can be found along roads in open areas as well.

Clitocybe subditopoda Peck

Clitocybe subditopoda is a small to mediumsized species that is relatively widespread in North America and most common in Pacific Coast conifer forests. It can be abundant locally and can occur late into the fall. The extremely hygrophanous caps are rich watery gray-brown with a vinaceous tint when fresh, but fade to pale gray as they dry. Fresh caps are finely striate on the margin, but this feature also is lost in age. The gills are grayish to slightly vinaceous buff, adnate to moderately decurrent, close, and may form a slight collar at the stipe apex. The stipe typically is equal or somewhat enlarged below, colored like the cap, often thinly coated with silvery fibrils, and the base has a watery gray tomentum. The odor is persistently farinaceous.

Clitocybe tarda Peck Clitocybe tarda (= Lepista tarda), a slender relative of C. nuda, typically occurs in groups or clusters in cultivated or grassy areas but occasionally can be found in wooded places. The fruitbodies range from small to medium-sized with expanded caps that are somewhat raised in the center and often have an incurved edge. The flesh is thin and brittle. The cap is watery and shiny when fresh, often faintly striate at the edge, and usually a shade of violaceous or vinaceous brown, fading to paler shades especially on the margin. The gills tend to become somewhat decurrent as the caps expand and usually are violaceous to pinkish or paler, sometimes fading to dull buff in age. The stipes are colored like the cap, often coated with thin whitish fibrils, and commonly the base has tufts of whitish to lilac tomentum. The pinkish buff spores are smooth to ornamented.

Cleistocybe vernalis Ammirati, Parker, and Matheny In the mid-1900s Clitocybe subvelosa and C. gomphidioides were described from western North America. They differed from other clitocybes by having a partial veil. Species of this sort were not recorded again until Drew Parker found another veiled clitocybe fruiting in spring near Metaline Falls, Washington. New analyses, including DNA data, led to a new genus, Cleistocybe, being created for this mushroom, and it was given the epithet vernalis to reflect its spring occurrence. The cap has a covering of vinaceous brown fibrils, like kidskin, over a pale pinkish gray background when fresh, and becomes more ochraceous brown in age. The surface turns greenish when a drop of 3% potassium hydroxide is applied. The gills are pale pinkish gray, close, and decurrent. The stipe is enlarged below and colored like the cap. The veil leaves a thin, pale, pinkish gray ring on the upper stipe and coarse patches of veil tissue on the lower stipe and margin of the cap. In some instances, the ring is quite faint, so careful observation of a range of specimens is required. As far as is known it occurs only in spring following snowmelt. Discovery of C. vernalis also led to renewed study of Clitocybe gomphidioides and C. subvelosa, and they were determined to represent only one species, with the earlier name C. gomphidioides having priority. This species has been found occasionally in conifer forests of Washington, Idaho, and Colorado, and fruits in September and October. Both Cleistocybe vernalis and Clitocybe gomphidioides are related to Catathelasma, but they are much smaller and do not have amyloid spores.

Clitocybe tarda

Cleistocybe vernalis Photograph by Andrew D. Parker

Cantharellula umbonata

Catathelasma ventricosum SAT-99-296-14

Cantharellula umbonata (Gmelin: Fries) Singer

Cantharellula umbonata has the aspect of a slender clitocybe. The cap is grayish, minutely tomentose, and radially wrinkled with a small central papilla. The stipe is minutely tomentose, and similar in color to the cap. The gills are decurrent, forked, and whitish. The gills and flesh turn reddish to reddish brown when bruised or in age. The spores are white and amyloid. Cantharellula umbonata is primarily a northern species and is not common in our area, compared to the Great Lakes region and elsewhere. It occurs in conifer forests on acidic soils and grows in association with Dicranum, Polytrichum, and other mosses.

Catathelasma ventricosum (Peck) Singer

Catathelasma is an easy genus to recognize because of its large size, strongly inrolled cap margin, tough texture, long decur-rent, crowded, narrow gills, and especially the presence of two veils, an inner one that leaves a conspicuous ring on the upper stipe, and an outer one that leaves an additional narrow ring or ring-zone and patches of tissue below the upper ring. In addition, the flesh has a strong farinaceous odor and taste and the spores are white and amyloid. Catathelasmas usually occur on calcareous soils in conifer forests, often in large local populations, forming arcs or rings of fruit-bodies. There are two species, and both occur in our region. Catathelasma ventricosum has a pale to grayish cap, and C. imperiale has a brownish cap and is somewhat larger; however, intermediate-sized mushrooms with grayish brown caps are not uncommon.

Clitocybula atrialba (Murrill) Singer Clitocybula is a genus of small to larger clitocybe- or collybia-like mushrooms that occur on wood or woody debris and have whitish amyloid spores. Some of the species, such as C. abundans, grow in clusters and have adnate to slightly decurrent gills. Clitocybula atrialba is a western species that occurs singly on the (sometimes buried) wood of alder and perhaps other hardwoods. It can be very common in some years, but virtually absent in others. It is an elegant slender-stiped mushroom with a funnel-shaped, dark smoky to blackish brown, matted fibrillose to furfuraceous cap, distant, decurrent, pale grayish gills that end at a collar-like line on the stipe apex, and a scaly to furfuraceous stipe that is colored like the cap, enlarged below, and often bears white strands at its base.

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca (Wulfen: Fries) J. Schröter

FALSE CHANTERELLE

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca is a characteristic fall species of our western conifer forests. It comes in several color forms and sizes, occurs in soils rich in decayed wood and woody litter, and can be relatively common in drier years when many other mushrooms cannot be found. It is typically medium-sized, and has a dry, somewhat velvety, irregular, funnel-shaped cap, thin, narrow, forked, decurrent gills that are rather soft, and central or off-center stipe. The cap, gills, and stipe are often some shade of orange, but the colors vary from yellow-orange to orange to brownish orange or almost blackish orange; the colors fade in age, occasionally to pale yellowish or even whitish. Although H. aurantiaca has the general form of a clitocybe and often is confused with chanterelles, it is more closely related to the genus Paxillus and many boletes.

Hygrophoropsis morganii (Peck)
H. E. Bigelow

This small fungus is easy to identify but only occasionally encountered. All parts typically are rose to pinkish, but fade in age, the stipe is centrally attached or somewhat off-center and has pink tomentum at its base. The gills are decurrent on a more or less funnel-shaped cap with an arched, often lobed, narrowly inrolled margin. The fragrant, fruity odor of cinnamon candy or grape soda is distinctive. It occurs in conifer forests on needles and litter from June to October. Hygrophoropsis olida appears to be the same species.

Clitocybula atrialba SAT-04-316-02

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca SAT-05-301-01

Hygrophoropsis morganii SAT-00-298-11

Myxomphalia maura SAT-06-237-16

Neohygrophorus angelesianus SAT-07-147-09

Myxomphalia maura (Fries) Hora Myxomphalia maura (= Fayodia maura) has the aspect of an omphalina because of its small size, decurrent gills, and dark coloration. The caps have a shallowly to deeply depressed center, feel gelatinous, have distinct fine, long striations and typically are blackish brown to dark gray-brown and hygrophanous. The fruitbodies are thin-fleshed, with adnate to short decurrent, whitish to faintly grayish gills. The stipes are thin and brittle, have a viscid surface, and are colored like the caps. The spores are white, smooth to roughened, and amyloid. Myxomphalia maura occurs on charred earth or burned wood under conifers or in fire pits, appearing from early summer late into fall. It often is found with Lyophyllum atratum, a small blackish brown collybia-like species.

Neolentinus lepideus

Neohygrophorus angelesianus
(A. H. Smith and Hesler) Singer

Neohygrophorus angelesianus is most commonly found in the mountains near melting snow but also can appear on bare soil, in meadows, or even at lower elevations under conifers, far from any snow. The entire mushroom is about the same color, purple, violet, or vinaceous when fresh, usually with a mix of brown; the cap fades greatly in age. The gills are fairly distant and waxy, giving it the appearance of a wax-cap. It has two distinctive microscopic features—amyloid spores and gill tissue which is vinaceous to brownish pink when mounted in 3% potassium hydroxide. It occurs primarily in spring, but sometimes can be found in summer and fall as well. It is most peculiar that such a distinctive fungus traveled for a long time under two names, N. angelesianus (or Hygrophorus angelesianus, its original name) and Clitocybe mutabilis.

Neolentinus lepideus (Fries: Fries)
Redhead and Ginns

Neolentinus lepideus (= Lentinus lepideus) is a tough-fleshed mushroom that probably is more closely related to polypores than to most gilled mushrooms. It has a whitish to pale yellowish depressed cap with large brown, often flattened, scales. The gills are whitish and have saw-toothed edges. The white stipes are tough and thick, often with a ring, and the lower portions bear small brownish scales. Both gills and stipe may become rusty to reddish brown in age. The odor of fresh specimens is fragrant, sometimes anise-like. Neolentinus lepideus is not common in natural habitats but can be found on conifer logs and stumps in some areas. It is a brown-rot fungus and is more commonly encountered on construction timbers, railroad ties, and, in the past, on automobile frames when they were made of wood. It can occur almost any time but is most common in summer and fall. Neolentinus ponderosus is a similar tan to yellowish brown species commonly found on conifer wood such as pine stumps during late spring and summer at higher elevations. It lacks a partial veil and therefore has no ring.

GENUS TRICHOLOMA AND SIMILAR MUSHROOMS

In its original sense, Tricholoma included all mushrooms with white spores, central fleshy stipes, adnexed to sinuate gills, and no ring or volva. Although the universe of tricholomas has shrunk over time with the transfer of many species to other genera, the remaining species are true to the original description (except for the “no ring” part, as a few species with faint rings are included). The fruitbodies are mostly medium to large and fibrous-fleshy, the cap surface varies—viscid or dry, smooth, fibrillose, or scaly—the gills are narrowly attached, the stipe fleshy, central, and usually whitish, the veil, when present, is usually fibrillose and disappears, but occasionally a small ring lingers. The spores are smooth and ellipsoid to subglobose, and cystidia are usually lacking; thus, there are very few distinctive microscopic characters, and species concepts are based mainly on the macrocharacters. However, most of these are gradational, making differentiation among species difficult in many of the subgroups.

Tricholoma atroviolaceum SAT-00-284-49

Many of the fleshy entolomas and hebelomas share the same stature as tricholomas, but are easily distinguished by their pink and dull brown spores, respectively. Armillarias and tricholomopsises also are very similar but occur on wood; leucopaxilluses, lyophyllums, and melanoleucas differ microscopically. Representatives of these five genera are treated here, after the tricholomas. Collybias have cartilaginous stipes, hygrophoruses waxy gills, and clitocybes and catathelasmas decurrent (or at least adnate) gills. Floccularias are very similar but have rings and usually abundant veil remnants as wooly scales on the cap and stipe; none are included here.

In Mushrooms in Their Natural Habitats (1949), Alexander Smith called Tricholoma species “difficult to recognize” and wrote that particularly those that occurred in North America were “badly in need of a critical study based on fresh material.” More than half a century later, Alex’s assessment remains true. Until such studies have been published, we will not know whether the practice of applying European names to many North American tricholomas is justified or not. Tricholomas are terrestrial woodland fungi, ectomycorrhizal with both conifer and broadleaved trees. Some, such as the matsutake, are good edibles and are highly sought-after, many are of unknown edibility and quality, and still others present a significant hazard, even death, so accurate identification is essential if one wants to partake of them.

Tricholoma atroviolaceum A. H.
Smith

Tricholoma atroviolaceum is characterized by medium-sized to large hard-textured fruit-bodies with a broadly convex to plane cap, densely covered with small blackish violet to violaceous gray-brown fibrillose scales, and often with the edge split radially in age. The flesh of the cap often stains reddish gray when cut, the gills are cinnamon- or pinkish gray-tinged, and the stipe is thick, brownish in age, and sometimes has an enlarged base. The flesh has a mildly to strongly farinaceous odor and somewhat bitter taste. Tricholoma atroviolaceum occurs in northern California and the PNW under conifers, but usually not in large numbers. Apparently it is restricted to the Pacific Coast.

Tricholoma caligatum (Viviani)
Ricken

Tricholoma caligatum is a medium-sized, slender fungus with an attractive mix of light and dark coloration. Typical forms are white, with a dense covering of dark brown fibrils that become increasingly isolated as scales or patches as the cap expands. The cap edge is inrolled and often bears slight cottony remnants of the partial veil, most of which remains as a ring. The gills and upper stipe are white (the gills often become reddish brown-spotted in age), and the stipe below the ring often bears brown fibrils like those of the cap, giving the mushroom the appearance of wearing a boot (caligatum is Latin for “boot”). Tricholoma caligatum formerly was classified in the genus Armillaria (as A. caligata), along with T. focale, T. magnivelare, and other tricholomas that differ from the rest of the genus by having a ring, albeit one that is not always well developed. Tricholoma caligatum is encountered in the PNW less frequently than its nearest look-alike, T. magnivelare (which is stockier, with fewer and paler fibrils, and nearly always with a pleasant cinnamon-spicy odor), but is widepread and sometimes abundant in other parts of North America, Europe, and Asia. There are conflicting reports about its edibility—PNW collections often have an unpleasant odor and taste, yet in the Rockies and northeastern U.S., it is reported as good. Perhaps the odor and taste of populations vary (it often is reported as being pleasantly spicy), collections of T. magnivelare are being misidentified, or more than one species is involved.

Tricholoma flavovirens (Persoon: Fries) S. Lundell

Tricholoma flavovirens is a distinctly colored fungus and one of the easier tricholomas to identify. Its stipe and gills are bright yellow; the cap also is yellow, at least near the edge, and usually grades to orange-brownish in the center. The cap may be viscid at first but, if so, soon becomes dry, so a quick touch with the tip of your tongue may be necessary to detect the stickiness. Tricholoma flavovirens occurs scattered to gregarious, most often under pine but with other conifers, cottonwood, and aspen as well. It is one of the commonest species in the shore pine stands on old sand dunes along the Oregon coast. Molecular data suggest to some mycologists that we have more than one species going by the name T. flavovirens along the West Coast, but no directed studies have been conducted to follow up that notion. Tricholoma sejunctum and T. sulphureum are other yellow tricholomas that could be confused with T. flavovirens—the former has black or dark brown radiating fibrils on its cap, and the latter has an unpleasant coal gas or heavy floral odor. Tricholoma flavovirens generally is considered a good edible species in North America, but reports of fatal poisonings by T. equestre, a very similar (or possibly the same) species in France, suggest caution is in order.

Tricholoma caligatum

Tricholoma flavovirens SAT-00-308-05

Tricholoma focale, a form with strong orange coloration

Tricholoma focale, a form with little orange color SAT-01-278-08

Tricholoma focale (Fries) Ricken

Tricholoma focale, more often known in the PNW as Armillaria zelleri or T. zelleri, is a common fungus that varies widely in its size and coloration. Typical forms are stout, with a rounded cap, downward tapering stipe, very firm flesh, cottony ring, strong farinaceous odor, and very bitter taste. The odor is even present in the soil from which the fruitbodies arise, due to large amounts of mat-forming mycelium. The color varies from a mix of orange and olivaceous green to tans and browns with merely a hint of orange. The gills are whitish at first, but develop rusty orange stains fairly quickly. The stipe usually is scaly below the ring and colored somewhat like the cap. Dull-colored fruitbodies could be mistaken for T. magnivelare, although the strong farina-ceous odor of T. focale quickly separates the two. Brighter orange fruitbodies are distinguished from T. aurantium by the presence of the veil; in the latter species, there usually is a sharp contrast in color of the stipe where a ring would otherwise occur, but no actual remnants of a veil. Tricholoma focale is very common in the PNW, occurring under conifers in low-nutrient soils. The strong unpleasant odor and taste make it inedible.

Tricholoma imbricatum (Fries: Fries)
P. Kummer

Tricholoma imbricatum is one of a large number of reddish brown tricholomas that are notoriously difficult to identify. It usually can be separated from the others by its dull brown, dry cap, which often is broken up into small scales, especially in the center, and often has short grooves along its edge, medium to large firm fruitbodies, lack of a veil, and growth under pines. Most of the similar species, such as T. muricatum, T. ustale, and T. populinum, have viscid caps and grow in different habitats. Probably the species with which T. imbricatum is most easily confused is T. vaccinum, which also is dry-capped. In comparison, the latter is usually smaller, softer with an often hollow stipe, scalier, a bit more brightly colored, and is more common, most often under spruce rather than pine. Tricholoma imbricatum may be edible, but its tough texture argues against it being very desirable.

Tricholoma inamoenum (Fries: Fries)
Gillet

Tricholoma inamoenum and T. sulphureum (Bulliard: Fries) P. Kummer are two small to medium-sized fungi with wide-spaced, broad gills and a coal gas odor. Other than the sulfur-yellow color of the latter (often with brownish colors in the cap), there is little to separate them and, occasionally, pale yellow fruitbodies are found that are difficult to place in one or the other species.

Tricholoma imbricatum

Tricholoma inamoenum SAT-00-285-01

Tricholoma sulphureum SAT-00-324-03

Tricholoma platyphyllum, described from near Seattle, seems to be the same as T. inamoenum. Coal gas is not something many people get an opportunity to smell nowadays but the odor of these mushrooms is strong and unpleasant for most people; some liken it to a heavy floral odor, such as that of Narcissus. Both species are widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, T. inamoenum under conifers and T. sulphureum under both hardwoods and conifers. Neither is edible.

Tricholoma magnivelare SAT-00-283-55

Tricholoma muricatum SAT-04-304-11

Tricholoma magnivelare (Peck) Redhead

PINE MUSHROOM, AMERICAN MATSUTAKE

Tricholoma magnivelare (= Armillaria ponderosa) is one of the more widely sought-after fungi in the PNW, including as a commercial commodity. It is recognized by the stocky stature, overall white color, often with brown fibrils or scales on cap and lower stipe, thick stipe that usually tapers to a pointed base and bears a large cottony ring, and firm flesh with a characteristic spicy odor. It occurs throughout much of North America, but is most abundant on the West Coast, usually appearing scattered to gregarious under conifers on nutrient-poor soils such as dune sands. It is edible and choice according to many, but considered mediocre by others. The very similar T. matsutake is enormously popular in Japan, and large quantities of American matsutake collected in the PNW are imported to satisfy the demand, creating an important conservation and sociological issue. The volatile spicy odor (famously described by David Arora as a cross between cinnamon candy and dirty socks) demands that the mushroom be used in simple dishes and not overcooked. Matsutake is most likely to be confused with T. caligatum, or Catathelasma imperiale and C. ventricosum, all three of which are pale-colored, and have white spores, prominent rings, and pointed stipe bases. However, both of the latter species lack the matsutake’s spicy odor and have an overall coloration with more gray than brown tones. Amanita smithiana is a dangerously poisonous species that also is white with an often slender rooting stipe base. It too lacks the spicy odor, usually is more slender in stature, and has softer flesh than matsutake. Many other large whitish mushrooms have been mistaken for matsutake, including Russula brevipes and Tricholoma apium. The mycelium of T. magnivelare apparently is parasitized by Allotropa virgata (candystick), a red and white plant that lacks chlorophyll and cannot make its own food as most plants do.

Tricholoma muricatum Shanks

Tricholoma muricatum is one of a confusing bunch of reddish brown-capped, viscid tricholomas, distinguished from the others by its radially fibrillose cap with short grooves at the edge, orange-white gills, brownish orange stipe, and growth with pine. It is very similar to the European T. pessundatum, differing only in minor microscopic details, and is one of the characteristic fungi of the coastal Oregon shore pine woodlands. When found in this habitat, it is fairly easy to identify, but away from coastal pines, identifications in this group become extremely difficult. Other look-alike species include T. fracticum (= T. batschii) with conifers and a sharp color change in the ring-zone like that in T. aurantium, T. manzanitae with manzanita, T. nictitans (= T. flavobrunneum) and possibly T. fulvum with conifers or in mixed woods and with some yellow tones in the stipe and gills, T. populinum with cottonwoods and aspen, T. ustale with oaks, and T. stans with pines. This whole group is sorely in need of critical study worldwide, as it seems there must be more names than there are taxa! until that happens it will be difficult to assess the presence of the different species in the PNW. None of these species is edible, and some or all are probably somewhat toxic.

Tricholoma nigrum Shanks and Ovrebo

Tricholoma nigrum is a little-known species, described in 1996 from a single collection made along the Oregon coast. Its fruitbodies are medium-sized or larger, and reminiscent of those of T. atroviolaceum, T. atrosquamosum, and T. luteomaculosum. The cap is moist to somewhat sticky and densely covered with dark gray fibrils and small scales in the center, less so near the edge, the gills whitish to grayish, the stipe whitish, coated with silky fibrils, and sometimes with scattered blackish scales in its upper portion. Microscopically, the key characters are the layer of inflated cells that underlies the cap cuticle and presence of (often inconspicuous) cheilocystidia. The odor and taste are strongly farinaceous. The type collection was made in a shore pine woodland, whereas our collections came from an old-growth, mixed conifer forest dominated by Douglas-fir and western hemlock, with occasional western white pines on nutrient-poor soil. The edibility of T. nigrum is unknown, but the odor and taste and reputation of similar species suggest it isn’t.

Tricholoma nigrum SAT-00-314-38

Tricholoma pardinum (Persoon) Quélet

One of the larger species in the genus, Tricholoma pardinum is also notable for causing severe gastrointestinal problems when eaten. The fruitbodies are whitish overall, and the dry caps are covered with small brownish gray to blackish fibrillose scales, giving it a spotted appearance (pard is Greek for “leopard”). The odor is farinaceous. Microscopically, the abundant clamp connections set it apart from most tricholomas. Other medium-sized, grayish, farinaceous tricholomas, such as T. nigrum and T. virgatum, can be distinguished by their caps appearing streaky rather than spotted with scales. The little-known T. venenatum is similar in size and general appearance, but the cap scales are pale tan. Tricholoma pardinum occurs throughout the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere, but usually is not abundant.

Tricholoma pardinum SAT-01-292-12+13

Tricholoma saponaceum

Tricholoma saponaceum (Fries: Fries) P. Kummer

Tricholoma saponaceum is a common and confusingly variable fungus. The principal characters used to distinguish it are the somewhat greasy look of the cap, the often faint or lacking soapy odor (from which the species got its name), and the pinkish orange color of the flesh in the base of the stipe, another character that unfortunately is not always well developed. The cap ranges in color from greenish yellow to olivaceous to grayish brown to pale brown or whitish, and often develops cracks in dry weather. The gills are broad and thick, giving somewhat the appearance of a wax-cap; they and the stipe are whitish, but often show flushes of color similar to that of the cap. The flesh sometimes stains pinkish orange, but often does not. Microscopically, similar to T. pardinum, it has abundant clamp connections. Tricholoma saponaceum is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere in a variety of forest types, often occurring in large numbers.

Tricholoma sejunctum (Sowerby: Fries) Quélet

Tricholoma sejunctum is a medium-sized fungus with a greenish brownish yellow, slightly viscid cap adorned with abundant, well-defined, blackish fibrils that radiate from the dark center, and whitish to pale yellow gills and stipe. The odor is mild to farinaceous and the taste mild to unpleasant. Because of its yellowish colors, T. sejunctum often is mistaken for T. flavovirens; however, the latter usually is larger and fleshier, has a yellow to brownish cap with only a faintly fibrillose appearance, and the even yellow color of the gills and stipe is deeper than the often splotchy yellow of T. sejunctum. What constitutes the “real” T. sejunctum has been subject to differences of opinion and consensus has not yet been reached. Many illustrations and descriptions of European material suggest a fungus with white (but often yellow-tinged) gills and stipe; some suggest growth with oaks and beech, others with conifers, and a variety of forms, and even new names such as T. arvernense and T. viridilutescens, have been erected for different variants. Although clearly similar to the European species (whether singular or plural), our fungus could be a distinct entity. until the necessary critical studies have been done, however, we will use the name T. sejunctum for it. It should not be eaten.

Tricholoma vaccinum (Schaeffer: Fries) P. Kummer

Tricholoma vaccinum is perhaps the most distinctive of the brown tricholomas by virtue of its medium size, warm brown colors, dry wooly-scaly cap and fibrillose-scaly stipe that often is spindle-shaped and hollow, and growth with conifers, especially spruce. The cap edge usually is inrolled with a thin weakly developed veil, the center retains an umbo, and the gills are white to cream, but may spot reddish or turn orangish red entirely in age. The odor is mild to farinaceous and the taste mild to bitter. Tricholoma vaccinum is widely distributed in the northern portion of the Northern Hemisphere and is especially common in the Rockies and PNW. It is said to be edible but of low quality; in light of this, and given the toxic nature of most brown tricholomas, we recommend avoidance. The epithet means “pertaining to cows,” presumably in reference to the color rather than to its occurrence in large herds.

Tricholoma virgatum (Fries: Fries)

P. Kummer Tricholoma virgatum is characterized by its small-medium size, dry, silvery gray, some-what shiny, streaky-fibrillose, pointed conical cap, very peppery or bitter taste, and growth with conifers. The radially streaky (virgate) nature of the cap surface sets it apart from most of the small to medium gray tricholomas, as they tend to have scaly caps. The closest look-alike probably is T. sciodes, described as having pinkish to violaceous tones, less pointed cap, bitter but not peppery taste, and growth with beech and perhaps other broad-leaved trees. It has been collected in California by Orson and Hope Miller, but we are unaware of reports from the PNW. Tricholoma virgatum is another species that should be avoided by mycophagists.

Tricholoma sejunctum

Tricholoma virgatum SAT-97-278-07

Tricholoma virgatum SAT-00-263-26

Armillaria nabsnona T. J. Volk and Burdsall

HONEY MUSHROOM

Once upon a time, there was a single honey mushroom, Armillaria mellea (= Armillari-ella mellea) that was considered a good edible species in some places and a poisonous one in others. Although it was acknowledged as highly variable, and several mycologists suggested that it actually encompassed multiple species, proposals for recognizing more than one species did not gain widespread acceptance. Because of its importance as a forest pathogen, A. mellea was one of the few fungi for which research funding was relatively abundant, and a series of studies in the 1970s and 1980s provided convincing evidence that more than one honey mushroom exists. The key studies were tests of the ability of mycelia derived from spores of different honey mushrooms to fuse in a manner that would allow mating to occur (a prerequisite for formation of mushrooms). In North America, 11 so-called biological species were identified in these studies and the possibility for more to exist was noted. Subsequent work has focused on confirming the biological species and linking them to species concepts based on the characteristics of the mushrooms, so-called morphological species. Currently, it is generally accepted that we have 10 biological species of honey mushroom in North America, and 8 of them have been given names linked to morphological characteristics.

At least 4 of the 8 named North American honey mushrooms occur in the PNW—Armillaria nabsnona, A. ostoyae, A. gallica, and A. sinapina—plus the still unnamed North American biological species X and XI. The true A. mellea has not been reported from our region, although it does occur in California.

Armillaria nabsnona was named only in 1996, and so is not widely recognized by mushroom-hunters; thus, it is probably more common than we think. It has a reddish brown smooth cap, stipe that is pale in the upper portion and gradually darkens downward, and grows singly or in groups, but not clusters, in fall or spring on the wood of broadleaved trees, especially alder. It is thought to be restricted to the Pacific Coast and little is known about its edibility.

Armillaria ostoyae (Romagnesi) Herink probably is our most common honey mushroom. It usually grows in clusters, mostly on conifers, but also on broadleaved trees and shrubs such as willow and salmon-berry; both the clusters and the individual mushrooms can be quite large. The caps are brown and usually covered with dark scales, a fairly well defined brownish ring is present on most fuitbodies, and the stipes often taper to pointed bases where they fuse in clusters. At other times, the bases may be somewhat enlarged. Armillaria sinapina differs only slightly in appearance, with a cobwebby veil and slightly smaller cap scales, grows singly or in clusters of only a few individuals, and in the PNW appears to also grow primarily on conifers. Its most distinctive feature in eastern North America, the bright yellow color of its veil, is lacking, or at least inconsistent, in PNW specimens. Thus, this species often cannot be distinguished from A. ostoyae. Armillaria ostoyae is a virulent pathogen of conifers, and, although edible when young, is considered worth collecting by relatively few mycophagists.

Armillaria ostoyae often fruits in large numbers on logs and snags

Armillaria gallica, probably the most common honey mushroom east of the Rockies, appears to occur only rarely in the PNW. It has a white cobwebby veil, pinkish brown coloration, and bulbous-based stipe, and occurs singly or in groups, not clusters, on or near logs, stumps, or bases of broad-leaved trees such as willow.

Armillaria nabsnona SAT-00-313-84

Armillaria ostoyae, fruiting from a buried root

Calocybe onychina (Fries) Donk Calocybes are small to medium fungi that look very much like tricholomas. The cap is white or brightly colored, the odor often farinaceous, and the basidia contain small siderophilous granules (they turn blackish violet when heated with iron in the chemical reagent acetocarmine). Calocybe onychina is a not commonly collected, high-mountain species that occurs with conifers such as Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, and Douglas-fir. When fresh, it has a beautiful, velvety, burgundy-colored cap that contrasts with the creamy yellow gills and the purple-flushed white stipe. The texture of the cap and unusual color combination separate it from the tricholomas which it otherwise resembles closely. We have found it in the spring in the Cascades and summer in the southern Rockies. In Europe, it is said to be edible; but the odor suggests it would not be particularly tasty, and a conservation ethic would argue against collecting it unless found in abundance.

Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis
G. M. Mueller

Laccarias range from quite small to medium-large, and have fairly thick, waxy-looking gills that may be whitish to sordid pinkish to strikingly purple in color, an often long, slender, shaggy-fibrillose stipe, and spores that are globose to ellipsoid, bear more or less conspicuous spines, and are non-amyloid. The overall color of many of the species is a distinctive orange-brown that one learns to recognize with experience. The laccarias are ectomycorrhizal and are a common element of our forests; several species also occur abundantly in parks or yards where appropriate trees have been planted. Some species, such as Laccaria laccata, are considered edible.

Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis is one of the more stunning members of our PNW mushroom community. When fresh, the whole mushroom is rich purple, but the color fades to a purplish tan as the mushroom ages. It is large for a laccaria and could be confused with Cortinarius violaceus; however, the latter usually is a darker blackish purple and has brown spores and a much less fibrillose hairy stipe. While L. amethysteo-occidentalis is restricted to, or at least is most common along, the Pacific Coast, neither of the other two North American purple laccarias is known to occur in the PNW; L. amethystina is an eastern and European species that occurs with oak and beech, and L. vinaceobrunnea is a Gulf Coast species found under oak.

Laccaria bicolor (Maire) P. D. Orton is smaller and more slender than L. amethysteo-occidentalis, and much less purple. The cap and stipe are orange-brown, and the gills are purplish when fresh, but then fade. The mycelium that cloaks the base of the stipes is purplish, in contrast to similar-looking species, such as L. laccata, in which it is whitish. Laccaria bicolor is common and abundant in the PNW, occurs throughout most of the north temperate and boreal conifer forests, and has been used extensively in mycorrhiza research. It probably is edible, but we have little information on how widely it is collected for the table.

Calocybe onychina

Leucopaxillus albissimus (Peck)
Singer

Leucopaxillus is a fairly small genus of medium to large dry mushrooms with dense firm flesh that decomposes very slowly, overall chalky white or dull brownish coloration, inrolled cap edge, adnate to decurrent gills, no veils, masses of cottony white mycelium which cloak the base of the stipe and extend into and bind the surrounding leaf litter, and spores with strongly amyloid warts. They typically occur in fall in forested areas and can be locally common in parks and other urban settings.

Leucopaxillus albissimus is a large, all-white (albissimus means “whitest” in Latin), widespread though not especially common fungus that grows with conifers. Several varieties have been described based on spore characteristics, cap color, and taste, but the concepts are not always easy to apply to collected specimens. The refusal to rot is probably the most distinctive characteristic of L. albissimus; however, the biological basis for this trait is not yet understood. The tough texture, combined with the unpleasant odor and taste, make it inedible.

More common in the PNW is Leucopaxillus gentianeus (Quélet) Kotlaba (= L. amarus), with a dull brownish cap, white gills and stipe, and intensely bitter taste. The mycelial mat formed by the vegetative body of the fungus is well developed and easy to observe when the mushrooms are collected. This characteristic, along with the dry cap, white gills that do not develop red spots in age, and very bitter taste distinguish L. gentianeus from the brown-capped tricholomas. It is too tough and bitter to be edible.

Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis SAT-97-289-01

Laccaria bicolor SAT-97-278-19

Leucopaxillus albissimus

Leucopaxillus gentianeus SAT-99-232-01

Lyophyllum decastes, young moist specimens

Lyophyllum decastes, drier, more typical specimens SAT-05-266-10

Lyophyllum decastes (Fries: Fries)
Singer

Most lyophyllums are small mushrooms, but the better known species are the larger ones, particularly those that occur in large clusters. Regardless of size, all share a dull gray and brown overall coloration, whitish to grayish, attached to decurrent gills, an often greasy lustrous cap surface, lack of veils, and basidia with siderophilous granules. Many stain black, but spore shape and ornamentation vary, and lyophyllums occur in many types of habitats.

Lyophyllum decastes occurs in large dense clusters and is rather common, occurring primarily in disturbed areas such as campgrounds and along roadsides and trailsides in conifer forests. The cap is smooth and has a consistently slippery feel, but is highly variable in color, ranging from whitish to pale watery tan to grayish brown or almost black. These different color forms are considered separate species (e.g., L. fumosum and L. loricatum) by some mycologists, but the lack of distinct breakpoints in the color range and consistent correlated features make this view difficult to apply. The stipe is fairly thick and whitish or flushed brownish gray. The spores are broadly ellipsoid to nearly globose, 5–7 × 5–6.5 µm. Lyophyllum decastes is edible and considered quite good by some mycophagists, but only mediocre by others. Because many possibly poisonous entolomas can be quite similar in stature and coloration, be sure to collect only specimens growing in large clusters and having white spores (entolomas have sordid-pink spores and do not grow in large clusters).

Lyophyllum semitale (Fries) Kühner is similar in color to the common brown forms of L. decastes, but is somewhat smaller, grows singly, in groups, or small clusters, and turns black in age or when bruised, although often the change is slow. It also has larger, narrowly ellipsoid spores, 6.5–9 × 3–4.5 µm. Lyophyllum infumatum is very similar with larger spores (9–11 × 5–6 µm) and white, instead of cream to grayish, gills. Lyophyllum semitale is widely distributed in conifer forests and generally considered inedible.

Marasmius oreades (Bolton: Fries)
Fries

FAIRY-RING MUSHROOM Marasmiuses are generally small, tough mushrooms, with mostly convex caps, narrowly attached gills, thin rigid stipes, no veils, and the characteristic of reviving from the dry state when moistened. They are much more common and diverse in eastern North America than they are in the West. Mushrooms with which they can be confused include species of Collybia, Micromphale, Strobilurus, and Marasmiellus; usually microscopic examination is necessary for confident identification.

The most common species in the PNW, Marasmius oreades, occurs in many parts of the world in lawns, parks, pastures, and other grassy areas, where it often grows in arcs or circles known as fairy rings. Although a small mushroom, it nonetheless is large, stocky, and fleshy for a marasmius. The cap is light to medium reddish brown, bright tan, or warm buff, with a central umbo. The gills are similar in color, though paler, and are thick and widely spaced, looking a bit like wax-cap gills; they have a faint but recognizable odor of cyanide. The stipe is similar in color to the cap and rather tough. Marasmius oreades can be found almost any time of year, but is most abundant in warmer weather after rains or where lawns are watered regularly. A somewhat similar poisonous species that occurs in the same habitats and can also form rings is Clitocybe dealbata. It is about the same size, but is duller and whiter, has close, narrow decurrent gills, and lacks the pleasant odor. Fairy rings and arcs form as the mycelium of a fungus grows outward from its point of origin, exhausting its food supply as it spreads, forming a ring if soil conditions are relatively uniform and arcs if they are not or if obstructions are present. The growth of the fungus temporarily disrupts the growth of the grass so the rings can be seen as brown areas when the fruit-bodies are not present. Marasmius oreades is an excellent edible mushroom, but be sure of your identification and take care not to collect it from places where lawn chemicals have been applied. Most people use only the caps as the stipes are rather tough.

Lyophyllum semitale SAT-07-278-03

Marasmius oreades

A fairy ring of Marasmius oreades

Melanoleuca cognata

Melanoleuca cognata (Fries) Konrad
and Maublanc

Melanoleucas are medium-sized fleshy mushrooms with a distinctive stature—usually the cap is broad in relation to the length of the stipe and usually it retains at least a small umbo well into maturity. The cap usually is some shade of grayish brown and hygrophanous, the gills whitish to cream, the stipe longitudinally striate and slender, and veils are lacking. Microscopically, the spores are roughened with amyloid warts, and large, encrusted, pointy cystidia are present in many species. As far as is known, melanoleucas are saprotrophic; they occur in a wide variety of forest and non-forest habitats.

Melanoleuca cognata is characterized by its medium to large fruitbodies, smooth, orange to red-brown, somewhat viscid cap that fades to pale tan or pale golden brown, deep ocher gills, and large spores (7.5–10 × 4.5–6.5 µm). It often is tall for the genus. The odor is mild or sometimes sweetish with unpleasant undertones. Melanoleuca cognata is widely distributed, but not common, in forested areas, meadows, parks, and gardens, fruiting from spring into fall. Its often tall stature and golden tones distinguish it from other species in the genus, most of which are poorly known, as no comprehensive study of melanoleucas has been carried out for North America. Melanoleuca cognata is probably edible, but is not highly regarded, is not common, and without a microscope can be hard to identify with certainty, so we do not recommend it.

Tricholomopsis rutilans (Schaeffer: Fries) Singer

PLUMS AND CUSTARD

The species in Tricholomopsis closely resemble tricholomas in stature, but differ by their saprotrophic growth on wood, abundant large cheilocystidia, and overall bright yellow coloration, often with dark contrasting fibrils and/or scales on the cap. Veils are lacking.

Tricholomopsis rutilans is the most distinctive species of the genus in the PNW and is readily recognized by its relatively large size and stocky stature, bright yellow fruitbodies that are overlaid with reddish purple fibrils and small scales, and its growth at the base of trees, especially pines. It is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere. Although edible, an informant of David Arora claims it tastes like rotting wood. The somewhat smaller T. decora (Fries: Fries) Singer tends to grow on conifer logs rather than at the base of trees; it too is bright yellow, but the fibrillose scales are olivaceous to dark brownish or almost black, rather than bright reddish purple. It is likewise widespread but inedible.

GENUS COLLYBIA AND SIMILAR MUSHROOMS

Originally the genus Collybia contained species of minute to medium-sized woodland mushrooms with convex caps with incurved margin, attached but not decur-rent gills, cartilaginous to fleshy stipe, usually relatively slender in comparison to the diameter of the cap, no veils, and whitish, smooth, non-amyloid spores. The large species are similar to tricholomas or melanoleucas as well as several pink-, brown-, and dark-spored mushrooms of similar stature.

Tricholomopsis rutilans SAT-04-304-09

Tricholomopsis decora SAT-06-301-17

Over time, these fungi have been divided into a number of smaller genera, and this has reduced the genus Collybia to a few very small mushrooms with thin stipes that grow from a sclerotium (small hard structure composed of close-packed hyphae) or blackened mushroom remains. The genus Dendrocollybia consists of a single species that differs in having branches on the stipe. Many of the original Collybia species have been transferred to Gymnopus, for thinner fleshed, white- to yellowish- or buff-spored species, and Rhodocollybia, for pinkish-spored species that tend to be fleshier and somewhat larger than gymnopuses.

Collybia cirrhata SAT-02-285-06

Collybia cirrhata (Persoon) P. Kummer The residual Collybia is made up of three very small (caps up to about 2 cm, 0.8 in.) species: C. cirrhata without sclerotia, usually associated with decaying mushrooms; C. cookei, arising from yellow, irregularly shaped sclerotia, sometimes with decaying mushrooms but also in soil and litter; and C. tuberosa, with reddish brown, apple-seed-like sclerotia, usually associated with decaying mushrooms. All have minute to small, whitish, convex to flattened caps, narrow white gills, and thin whitish stipes that are often hairy below or have white strands associated with the sclerotia or substrate. The spores are white, small, smooth, and non-amyloid. These fungi are common, often in large troops, throughout western forests. Species of Strobilurus and Baeospora myosura are similar in appearance to these small collybias.

Gymnopus acervatus (Fries) Murrill A number of Gymnopus species form clusters with stipes fused together at their bases, making it possible to excavate the entire unit from the substrate. Gymnopus acervatus has caps that are reddish brown with paler edges, narrow, pale pinkish gills, and red to red-brown, hollow, shiny stipes with whitish hairs and narrow strands at the base. Young, unexpanded clusters often are a characteristic reddish purple color. It is a common inhabitant of conifer forests, occurring on rotting logs and stumps, and other woody debris.

Gymnopus confluens (Persoon: Fries)
Antonín, Halling, and Noordeloos

Gymnopus confluens is among our more common species in mixed woods with heavy litter accumulations. It most often is in clusters or occurs as a few to many closely associated fruitbodies. The mushrooms are thin-fleshed and marcescent, so that the clusters can remain in the forest for a long time. usually they begin to appear in late spring or early summer and continue through fall. The gills are crowded, very narrow and pale to whitish. The caps are reddish brown when fresh but soon fade to pinkish buff or whitish, and the stipes are long, narrow, enlarged at the base, tough, similar in color to the cap, but becoming darker in age, and often covered with fine small hairs. The taste and odor are usually mild, but occasionally reported as onionlike.

Gymnopus dryophilus (Bulliard:
Fries) Murrill

Gymnopus dryophilus is a well-known and widely distributed species in all sorts of forests. In the PNW it occurs from spring into fall during moist periods, but its abundance varies considerably from year to year. It is a medium-sized or sometimes smaller species that occurs scattered or in crowded groups or clusters. The caps, when fresh and moist, have a buttery appearance, and are reddish brown; however, they fade readily on drying and become tan to yellow-brown, pinkish buff, or paler. The fruit-bodies are long-lived, and with age the caps may become irregular and lobed. The gills are close and white to buff, usually attached but can pull free in age, and the edges are even at first but eroded with age. The stipes are slender, often enlarged below, hollow, rather tough, colored like the cap or paler, sometimes with longitudinal striations, and the base often with white strands extending into the substrate. The whitish to pale yellow spores are smooth and do not react in Melzer’s reagent. The taste is pleasant. In some areas this species carries a fungus parasite, Syzygospora mycetophila, which produces small, pale irregular growths on the surface of the mushrooms. Gymnopus dryophilus sometimes is confused with Rhodocollybia butyracea, but the latter fungus has a pinkish spore deposit and at least some of the spores turn reddish brown (dextrinoid reaction) in Melzer’s reagent.

Gymnopus acervatus SAT-00-285-35

Gymnopus confluens

Gymnopus dryophilus

Gymnopus erythropus (Persoon:Fries) Antonín, Halling, and Noordeloos

Gymnopus erythropus is a small to mediumsized mushroom usually found in tight clusters. The caps are rounded, brown to reddish brown and striate when fresh, then become flattened and fade to lighter brown, brownish orange, or buff. The gills are attached, sometimes forked, rather broad, close, and whitish. The stipes are fibrous and somewhat elastic, hollow, equal, pallid to pale orangish above and dark reddish to orange-brown or brown below, and usually with reddish to orange-brown hairs at the base. The mushrooms are long-lived; the caps fade to whitish with age, but the red color of the stipes persists. Gymnopus erythropus is often abundant in gardens and landscaped areas on soil, wood chips, or woody litter. Whether it has become naturalized in our forests is unclear, but we have collected it in one of Seattle’s forested parks. It has been reported from both eastern and western North America and is known from Europe and other parts of the world, sometimes under the name Collybia marasmioides. Gymnopus erythropus was not included in Joanne Williams-Lennox’s 1975 PhD dissertation on collybioid fungi, which could indicate it has been introduced here since then. It could be confused with G. acervatus, but the latter is found in forested areas, its caps and stipes both are purplish when young, the caps are much narrower in relation to the stipe length, and it occurs in larger, tighter clusters.

Gymnopus erythropus SAT-07-285-04

Gymnopus luxurians (Peck) Murrill

Gymnopus luxurians is an attractive mushroom with reddish brown caps that fade to pale brownish with age, cream-colored, close to crowded gills, and fleshy-fibrous, whitish to pale brownish stipes that have a twisted striate appearance, split lengthwise in age, and have cottony material over the lower surface and white strands attached to the base. Although solitary fruitbodies or small groups can occur, it usually forms large conspicuous clusters. Gymnopus luxurians is large and fleshy for a gymnopus and may reach 10 cm (4 in.) in diameter, the expanded caps becoming irregularly shaped and splitting from mutual pressure. It occurs in a variety of urban and suburban habitats including flower beds with wood chips and in lawns around the roots of trees. It can appear in summer, when few other species are fruiting, if sufficient moisture is available, such as from yard-watering. Like G. erythropus and G. peronatus, it seemingly has become common in recent years.

Gymnopus peronatus (Bolton: Fries)
Antonín, Halling, and Noordeloos

Gymnopus peronatus is a medium-sized collybia with a brownish to ochraceous rounded cap with a small central umbo, radiating streaks, and a usually paler margin. The free gills are yellowish to light brownish, the stipe is tough, slender, yellowish to yellowish brown and darker in age, longitudinally fibrillose, and its base is enlarged, and covered with hairs and strands connected to an abundant whitish to yellowish mycelium that permeates the leaf litter. The taste is mild for a short time then peppery hot, and the odor is often pleasant and spicy. The spores are long and narrow, and the edges of the gills have long, slender cheilocystidia. Gymnopus peronatus is a widespread and often extremely abundant species at lower elevations in the PNW, occurring in mixed woods on leaf litter and woody debris. It usually appears first in early summer and then is present well into fall. The mushrooms are tough and persistent, rehydrate when moistened, and hang around a long time, often looking discolored and tattered in old age. The mycelium at times so impregnates the litter that one can lift up an entire section of the forest floor when attempting to pick some of the mushrooms. For the past several years this species has been widespread and extremely common in the Puget Sound area. However, despite its current abundance, there are no earlier records of it occurring here. The reasons for this phenomenon remain a mystery.

Rhodocollybia butyracea (Bulliard:Fries) Lennox

In the PNW, we have several species in the Rhodocollybia butyracea complex, named for their buttery-looking caps—R. unakensis (= Collybia extuberans), R. badiialba, and R. butyracea f. butyracea primarily in conifer forests, plus R. b. f. asema in hardwood forests. The various taxa are difficult to distinguish without a microscope and can be confused with Gymnopus dryophilus. When fresh and young, the cap of R. b. f. butyracea is red-brown to violet-brown, and then fades to lighter browns. The gills are crowded, thin, and white, developing a slight pinkish tint, and the edges are even and then serrulate in age. The stipe is clavate, tinted with colors of the cap, and has a tough rind and soft white spongy interior. The gill edges have a variety of different-shaped cheilocystidia, and the spores are pale pinkish buff, relatively large (mostly 7–9 × 3.5–4 µm) and tear-shaped, almond-shaped, or ellipsoid. Rhodocollybia badiialba is similar in color to R. b. f. butyracea and can be separated from other species in this group by its spherical spores. Rhodocollybia butyracea f. asema has a gray-brown to grayish cap when fresh. Rhodocollybia unakensis can be similar in color to R. b. f. butyracea, but has a somewhat rooting stipe base, is associated with rotting wood, and has smaller (5.5–7 × 3–4.5 µm) spores.

Gymnopus luxurians SAT-07-204-06

Gymnopus peronatus SAT-05-199-01

Rhodocollybia butyracea f. butyracea SAT-00-297-40

Rhodocollybia maculata

Rhodocollybia maculata (Albertini and Schweinitz: Fries) Singer

Rhodocollybia maculata produces mediumsized to larger fruitbodies that are relatively thick-fleshed and not unlike tricholomas in appearance. Close observation of the cap reveals red-brown spots (hence maculata, “spotted”), which contrast with the usually cream to whitish cap. The edge of the cap remains inrolled for a long time. The gills are narrow, crowded, thin, and whitish to cream, yellowish white or pinkish, and become red-brown spotted with age. The stipe is relatively long, tapers downward, and often is deeply buried in the substrate; it is similar to the cap in color, including the spots, the interior is hollow, and the flesh tough and elastic. Rhodocollybia maculata is very common in the PNW, often fruiting in large numbers, in clusters on or near rotting conifer wood. It occurs from late spring until fall, and can be found even in dry years. Specimens with yellowish gills and sometimes yellowish stipes have been referred to as var. scorzonerea.

Baeospora myriadophylla (Peck)
Singer

Baeospora myriadophylla typically occurs on hardwood logs and stumps, and less often on conifer wood and forest floor litter. Fresh specimens are quite striking when plucked from a log and turned over to reveal the crowded, narrow, lilac gills. The thin-fleshed caps and the stipes are usually brownish, occasionally with lilac tones, and they, as well as the gills, develop grayish or paler tones with age or loss of moisture. The tough, hollow stipe is usually somewhat pruinose above and has white short hairs on the base. Baeospora myriadophylla is an uncommon fungus and usually occurs in small numbers in fall or spring.

Strobilurus trullisatus (Murrill)
Lennox

Strobilurus trullisatus is probably the most common cone-dwelling gilled fungus in the PNW, overwhelmingly favoring Douglas-fir cones that are fairly well rotted. The fruitbodies often arise from buried cones, so a little excavation may be required to make the substrate apparent. Like other members of the small genus Strobilurus, it forms small, dull-colored fruitbodies with broadly convex to flat caps, cap cuticle composed of club-shaped cells, and no clamp connections. In addition, the cap is whitish, often with pink tones, the gills are closely spaced, and the stipe is thin, grades from whitish at the apex to yellowish to brown in its lower portion, and bears yellow-brown or orangish wooly hairs at the base. Important microscopic features include the small (3–6 × 1.5–3.5 µm) non-amyloid spores and abundant, relatively thin-walled, pleurocystidia whose tips usually bear a mass of granular material that leaves a bit of a ridge when it disappears. The less common S. occidentalis is very similar, usually differentiated by its darker cap that lacks pinkish tones, thicker-walled pleurocystidia that lack the granular material, and occurrence on spruce cones; Baeospora myosura (Fries) Singer also occurs on spruce (mostly) and Douglas-fir cones, but has a brownish cap often with a pale edge that fades to pale tan, even more crowded buff gills, light brown, somewhat hairy stipe with whitish strands on the base, smaller (3–4.5 × 2–3 µm) weakly amyloid spores, clamp connections, and cap cuticle with mostly thin, flat-lying hyphae. Strobilurus albipilatus is a litter-inhabiting species that grows in scattered groups, usually at high elevation, often in the spring near melting snow. Despite its epithet (Latin for “white cap”), the cap color usually is some shade of medium to dark brown.

Baeospora myriadophylla

Strobilurus trullisatus

Baeospora myosura SAT-97-284-05

Callistosporium luteo-olivaceum SAT-07-285-10

Callistosporium luteo-olivaceum
(Berkeley and M. A. Curtis) Singer

Callistosporium luteo-olivaceum is a distinctively colored, smallish mushroom that grows on well-rotted, often mossy, wood any time from spring through fall. It prefers conifer logs and stumps (often associated with the bark) and fruits singly, as scattered individuals, or in small clusters. Typically the caps are yellow-brown to liver brown, with thin, close, yellow to ocher or olive-tinted gills, and hollow, fibrillose stipe that is similar in color to the cap and has yellowish tomentum at the base. The taste is farinaceous-bitter, and the flesh turns violet when dabbed with 3% potassium hydroxide. The spores are colorless, with yellow contents when mounted in ammonia.

GENUS MYCENA AND SIMILAR MUSHROOMS

Mycena is a large genus of small mushrooms, many of which fit the common name, fairy bonnets, quite well. In terms of numbers of fruitbodies, they are the most abundant mushrooms in the PNW. The fruitbodies are tiny to small to (occasionally) medium-sized, fragile and soft (but a few are fleshy), and often produced in large numbers (troops) over large areas of forest floor, especially on conifer needles. Typically the cap is conic or has a conic umbo, but it can also be bell-shaped or convex at first; the edge is often translucent-striate and not incurved or inrolled, the gills attached but usually not decurrent, the stipe usually thin and fragile, hollow, and without veils. Mycenas are decomposers of a wide variety of plant materials—leaves, humus, wood, sometimes grass—but not dung. Dry fruit-bodies do not revive when moistened. Microscopically, a layer of inflated cells usually is present below the surface layer of the cap, the spores are smooth, and cheilocystidia are usually present. Microscopic characters, such as the size and shape of the cheilocystidia, are critical for identification and one cannot hope to identify more than a handful of species without a microscope and technical literature. The hordes of brown and gray mycenas are especially difficult to identify, but the more brightly colored species often can be distinguished with some success. There are no important edible species, most being tiny and fleshless, and some could be poisonous.

Mycenas often occur in large troops on conifer needle litter

Mycenas could be confused with several other small mushrooms, including many of the collybias. A few representatives of other genera, many differing by having decur-rent gills (omphalina-like species), also are treated in this section. Still other similar genera, which are not covered here, include Delicatula, Fayodia, Gamundia, Gerronema, Haasiella, Hemimycena, Hydropus, Mycenella, and Resinomycena. They are separated from one another primarily by microscopic characteristics and, with the exception of Hemimycena, are all very small genera.

Mycena amicta (Fries) Quélet

When fresh, Mycena amicta is unmistakable by its typical mycena stature and blue color; however, in age, the blue fades to brownish and it becomes considerably more mistakable. When only faded specimens are available, they can be recognized by the powdery-hairy stipe, thick peelable cap cuticle, close gills, ellipsoid spores (6–10 × 3.5–5.5 µm), and simple, narrow cheilocystidia. Mycena amicta usually is found in groups of a few fruitbodies, often on or near well-rotted conifer wood in the PNW, and elsewhere on the wood of broadleaved trees.

Mycena amicta

Mycena aurantiidisca SAT-92-251-25

Mycena aurantiomarginata SAT-07-292-05

Mycena aurantiidisca (Murrill)

Murrill

Mycena aurantiidisca is brilliant orange at first, but gradually fades, usually at the edge of the cap first, to yellowish or almost whitish. Typically, specimens are found that are yellowish around the edge and still bright orange in the center. The gills are whit-ish at first, then become somewhat yellowish, and the stipe is whitish with a yellowish base. Mycena aurantiidisca is common on needle litter in moist conifer forests, but usually occurs in relatively small numbers. It is very similar to M. adonis and M. amabilissima (itself considered a synonym of M. adonis by some mycologists), differing primarily in color, as these species are brilliant pink before fading.

Mycena aurantiomarginata (Fries)

Quélet

This distinctively colored species occurs widely in conifer forests along the Pacific Coast. The cap is dark olive-brown with smoky tints and orangish shades near the margin. It is not markedly hygrophanous. The gills are pallid to grayish orange on their faces and have bright orange edges. The stipe is colored somewhat like the cap. The spores are ellipsoid, 7–9 × 4–5 µm, smooth and amyloid, and the cheilocystidia are club-shaped with numerous short projections, somewhat like a mace. Mycena aurantiomarginata also is known from Europe.

Mycena citrinomarginata Gillet Mycena citrinomarginata is a variable species that occurs in a wide variety of habitats, including under trees in forests and parks, among fallen leaves and mosses, on rotting tree bark, and in city-dwellers’ lawns. The cap and stipe can be anything from pale yellowish to olivaceous to date brown, the gills from whitish to yellow-gray usually with a lemon-yellow edge (hence the epithet). Alexander Smith noted a distinct correlation between the amount of light in the habitat and the color of the fruitbodies: “Out in the open, [they] are very dark brown and have sordid-brown gill edges. In the deep shade of conifer thickets, a very pale delicate yellow to whitish form is found. The majority of [those] collected in moderately open stands are intermediate between the extremes.” The odor and taste of M. citrinomarginata are not distinctive. Its spores are 8–12 × 4–5.5 µm, and the cheilocystidia varied, often with complex, branching, finger-like protrusions, especially in older fruit-bodies.

Mycena clavicularis (Fries) Gillet

Mycena clavicularis is a common widespread species that often fruits in troops on conifer needles in late summer or early fall with the onset of the rain. The cap is dry to moist or greasy, dark gray to dark brown in the center, and fading somewhat with loss of moisture. The gills are pale grayish or brownish and attached to somewhat decurrent, and the stipe is about the same color as the cap and, in wet weather, is distinctly sticky or slimy, making the mushrooms hard to pick. The spores are medium-sized (7–10 × 3–5.5 µm) and cheilocystidia club-shaped with numerous short, thick, spine-like projections. Mycena vulgaris, a similar brownish species that also occurs in large troops on conifer litter, differs by fruiting later in the season, after the onset of colder weather, and by having differently shaped cheilocystidia, much more slender and branched, appearing almost shrub-like.

Mycena epipterygia (Scopoli: Fries)

S. F. Gray

Mycena epipterygia is another variable species that can be recognized easily in some forms and not so easily in others. The not-soon-forgotten sight of a line of brilliant yellow, glistening fairy bonnets marching along an arching, moss-draped maple branch evokes the essence of our wet old-growth forests. The cap varies from mustard-yellow, often with a faint greenish tone and whitish edge, to shades of pale gray and brown with or without yellowish tinges, to dark brown in one variety. The cap is viscid in wet weather and its gelatinous skin completely peelable. The gills are white to buff and somewhat widely spaced, and the stipe is smooth, white to lemon-yellow, viscid when wet, and shiny when dry. The spores measure 8–11 × 5–6 µm, and the cheilocystidia are club-shaped with short projections, like those of M. clavicularis. In the mushrooms the PNW, M. epipterygia occurs in small to somewhat larger groups in needle litter, or on twigs or wood. It also occurs widely in northern North America, Europe, and Asia, and numerous varieties (12! in Maas Geesteranus’s Northern Hemisphere compilation) have been described based primarily on differ ences in fruitbody color, substrate, presence of clamp connections, and small differences in other microscopic features. Certain varieties are elevated to species status by some mycologists; but the key characters are gradational, and the existence of consistent discrete entities remains to be convincingly demonstrated.

Mycena citrinomarginata SAT-03-291-01

Mycena clavicularis SAT-00-250-04

Mycena epipterygia SAT-97-297-03

Mycena griseoviridis

Variety griseoviridis, one of the varieties recognized by Maas Geesteranus, was originally described as Mycena griseoviridis A. H. Smith, a name that in the western u.S. has been applied to a common montane snowbank mycena with dark olive-brown viscid caps, yellow to olivaceous viscid stipe, and tendency to stain reddish brown in age. Careful comparison suggests that this snowbank mycena differs sufficiently from M. griseoviridis to be considered a separate species. Although no formal proposal has been made to date, the name M. nivicola has been suggested as appropriate for our western fungus.

Mycena haematopus (Persoon: Fries)

P. Kummer

Mycena haematopus is one of a group of mycenas characterized by containing a colored latex that is exuded when the fruitbodies are broken or cut. The fluid in M. haematopus is dark blood-red in color and is most easily seen by breaking the stipe near its base (hence the epithet: haem- is “blood” and -pus is “foot” in Greek). The fruitbodies grow in groups, often in loose clusters, on both hardwood and conifer logs and can get quite large (for a mycena). The edge of the cap often is finely scalloped, the spores are broadly ellipsoid, 7–12 × 4– 7 µm, and the cheilocystidia are somewhat fat with extended necks that sometimes are branched. Mycena sanguinolenta (Albertini and Schweinitz: Fries) P. Kummer similarly exudes a red latex, but is smaller and more slender, consistently has red-edged gills (those of M. haematopus sometimes are and sometimes are not), and grows scattered on needle litter.

Mycena haematopus SAT-01-321-13

Mycena maculata

P. Karsten Mycena maculata is characterized by its conic or bell-shaped to convex, smooth to greasy caps, which are blackish brown to dark brown when young, then fade to brownish gray, usually retaining an umbo, often wrinkled or slightly grooved and with reddish brown spots in age or after being cut or bruised. The gills are whitish to pale gray, spotted or almost wholly reddish in age, and the stipe is long and fairly stout, sometimes with a rooting base when growing in soft well-rotted wood, its base densely covered with long coarse whitish hairs and staining reddish in age. unfortunately for identifiers, the staining of the fruitbodies does not always develop. Microscopically, the spores are ellipsoid, 7–10 × 4–6 µm, and, although not conspicuous, the cheilocystidia are of varied shape and often bear projections. Mycena maculata grows in groups or clusters on wood of both hardwoods and conifers in North America and Europe, mostly on conifers in the PNW. In the absence of the reddish spotting, M. maculata is almost indistinguishable macroscopically from M. galericulata (Scopoli: Fries) S. F. Gray, which also grows in groups or clusters on wood, but has somewhat larger spores (8–12 × 5.5–9 µm).

Mycena sanguinolenta SAT-99-129-01

Mycena maculata

Mycena galericulata SAT-07-285-02

Mycena oregonensis

Mycena overholtsii

Mycena oregonensis A. H. Smith

This tiny species, with caps no more than 1 cm (0.4 in.) across, is noticeable primarily because of its color. All parts are brilliant yellow, and this allows it to stand out in the litter under Douglas-fir and other conifers. It also occurs in Europe.

Densely hairy lower stipes of Mycena overholtsii

Mycena overholtsii A. H. Smith and
W. Solheim

Mycena overholtsii is a large brown species (“a most un-Mycena-like member of the genus,” according to Dutch mycologist R. A. Maas Geesteranus) that grows in clusters on wood, in much the same manner that M. maculata and M. galericulata do. However, M. overholtsii appears in the mountains in late spring to early summer on wet rotting stumps and logs recently exposed by, or still partially covered with, melting snow. Also, compared to the other two species, the gills are more distinctly gray and the lower portions of the stipes are densely covered with long white hairs. The spores measure 5– 8 × 3.5–4 µm, and the sometimes hard-tosee cheilocystidia are smooth, slender, and cylindrical or sometimes a bit club-shaped. Mycena overholtsii apparently is restricted to the mountains of western North America.

Mycena stipata Maas Geesteranus and
Schwöbel

Mycena stipata is another wood-inhabiting, cluster-forming, brown fairy bonnet, but of more typical mycena proportions. It is characterized by the dark brownish bell-shaped caps that are covered by a whitish powdery bloom when young and fade to pale grayish brown in age, the whitish to pale gray-brown gills that may stain reddish in age, pale grayish brown stipe, and bleach-like odor. The odor varies in strength from nearly absent to relatively strong, so it often is necessary to crush a cap in order to detect it. The spores measure 7.5–11 × 4.5–7 µm, and flask-shaped cheilocystidia with long necks are abundant; pleurocystidia of similar shape were said by Orson Miller to be abundant, but in the original description they are said to be absent or rare. Mycena stipata has long been called M. alcalina, a name that has been rejected because of difficulties in interpreting it. Mycena stipata occurs most commonly in spring and early summer on logs and stumps in conifer forests, not necessarily associated with melting snow.

Mycena strobilinoides Peck

Even though it usually is smallish, Mycena strobilinoides can, in Alexander Smith’s words, “add considerable color to the often otherwise dull needle carpet under conifers” when it is present in troops of hundreds of fruitbodies. The fruitbodies are brilliant orange overall, even more intense orange on the edge of the gills, and are covered with long orange hairs at the base of the stipe. The spores are 7–9 × 4–5 µm, and the abundant cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia are variably flask-shaped with short necks to clavate and in all cases with abundant short knobby projections; they often contain pale to bright orange contents. Mycena strobilinoides seems to be most common at mid-elevations in the mountains, often in association with pines. It occurs less commonly elsewhere in northern North America and also in Europe.

Mycena stipata SAT-07-154-01

Mycena strobilinoides

Omphalina-like species

The following species, although now arrayed among six genera, at one time were all classified in the genus Omphalina (or Omphalia). Omphalina-like mushrooms are those that are small and have decurrent gills, cartilaginous stipe, broadly convex to slightly vase-shaped cap (omphalina is Greek for “small navel”), and no veils. In general, they look like small clitocybes and, in fact, many of them have been placed in Clitocybe at one time or another (we include them with the mycenas because of their small size and relatively dainty appearance). Based mostly on microscopic and chemical differences, a number of new, mostly quite small, genera have been created for many of these morphologically similar fungi. Although the ranks of Omphalina have been depleted by these removals, a number remain; however, none are included here.

Chromosera cyanophylla SAT-07-126-02

Chromosera cyanophylla (Fries)

Redhead, Ammirati, and Norvell

Long known as Mycena lilacifolia in North America and as Omphalina cyanophylla in Europe, Chromosera cyanophylla is a beautiful, not uncommon but often overlooked fungus. The cap and stipe are bright golden yellow and slimy, the yellow contrasting with the lilac color of the young gills. The colors fade quickly to pale yellow or whitish, so young fruitbodies must be found to fully appreciate the beauty of this fungus. Chromosera cyanophylla usually grows in small groups and can be found in fall on rain-soaked conifer logs, as well as spring and early summer on wet conifer logs exposed by melting snow. It is the only member of the genus.

Chrysomphalina aurantiaca (Peck)
Redhead

Chrysomphalina aurantiaca (= Omphalina luteicolor) is a common bright orange species that often can be found in large groups on rotting conifer logs and stumps. The color fades considerably in age, although usually retaining vestiges of orange, and is difficult to capture accurately on film. Chrysomphalina aurantiaca was described from a collection made near Seattle and is a typical fall species in the PNW, but also can be found in spring. Apparently it is restricted to the PNW and northern California. Molecular analyses suggest that the other two chrysomphalinas are related relatively closely to the hygrocybes and Chromosera, so presumably C. aurantiaca is too.

Contumyces rosella (Moser) Redhead,

Moncalvo, Vilgalys, and Lutzoni

Contumyces rosella (known briefly in the PNW as Omphalina rosella var. vinacea) is a velvety-capped, variably salmon-pink to somewhat wine-red fungus. Its most distinctive microscopic features are the presence of abundant hair-like cheilocystidia and fat-necked cystidia on the cap and stipe surfaces. Molecular analyses currently place it close to Rickenella in a group of fungi that contains a variety of morphologic forms, but predominantly polypores (many in the genus Phel-linus) and crust-fungi. Contumyces rosella is a rarely collected spring-fruiting fungus, appearing on mossy soil, such as along trailsides, from late March to early June apparently with a peak in the first half of April.

Lichenomphalia umbellifera
(Linnaeus: Fries) Redhead, Lutzoni, Moncalvo, and Vilgalys

Most lichens involve ascomycetes; only a handful of them involve basidiomycetes, and Lichenomphalia umbellifera is one of those. It is an orangish tan or yellowish tan, translucent-striate and hygrophanous fungus that occurs pretty much throughout the year, mostly on rotting logs and stumps, but also on damp soil. The fruitbodies arise from a dark green film that coats the surface of the wood or soil. Lichenomphalia umbellifera (better known as Omphalina ericetorum and also as Phytoconis ericetorum) is common throughout the PNW and much of the Northern Hemisphere, being particularly abundant northward into the Arctic.

Chrysomphalina aurantiaca

Contumyces rosella SAT-03-112-01

Lichenomphalia umbellifera

Rickenella fibula (Bulliard: Fries) Raithelhuber

Rickenella fibula is a small, long-stiped, bright orange to yellowish fungus that occurs very widely on, or buried among, mosses. Microscopically, it is characterized by its conspicuous, large, long-necked cystidia on the gill edges and faces, stipe apex, and cap. It occurs in mossy forest habitats but also is a common urban mushroom, occurring in small to large groups in mossy lawns of homes, parks, and similar habitats. Molecular analyses suggest that R. fibula is not closely related to most other gilled mushrooms, instead it falls within a heterogeneous group that includes mostly polypores and crust-fungi. Rickenella swartzii is a similar, but less colorful, woodland species.

Xeromphalina campanella (Batsch: Fries) Kühner and Maire

Xeromphalinas differ from the other omphalina-like mushrooms in their bright yellowish brown to orangish brown cap with yellowish gills, and tough wiry stipe with rusty red hairs at the base. Microscopically, the spores are amyloid, and the dried fruitbodies can revive when moistened. All the species are saprotrophic on wood and leaf litter, some occurring in large masses on logs and stumps, others in dispersed fashion on small twigs and conifer needles.

Rickenella fibula SAT-03-297-02

Xeromphalina campanella SAT-07-125-09

Xeromphalina campanella is an example of the former type; it is very common on conifer wood in the PNW and elsewhere throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Xeromphalina brunneola is a very similar conifer-dwelling species described from Idaho and reported to occur in Washington; it is somewhat darker, has smaller, more elongated spores (5–6.5 × 2–3 vs. 5–9 × 3–4 µm), and a disagreeable taste. Xeromphalina campanelloides also resembles X. campanella in the field, but differs in certain microscopic characters—the hyphae of the flesh turn red in potassium hydroxide, and irregularly shaped cystidia are present on the stipe; it is a little-known species, described on the basis of two collections from Washington and one each from Vancouver Island, Québec, and Xeromphalina campanella SAT-07-125-09 Rickenella fibula SAT-03-297-02 New York. Another very similar species, X. kauffmanii, has a yellower cap, yellowish hairs at the base of the stipe, smaller spores (4–6 × 3–4 µm), and occurs on hardwood in the central and eastern u.S.

Xeromphalina cornui (Quélet) J. Favre, an example of the latter type, occurs as single fruitbodies on conifer needles and small bits of woody debris, although often in troops; it also is found in sphagnum bogs. Contrary to general belief, it appears to be more common than the very similar X. cauticinalis, which differs in microscopic details, such as the type of pigmentation of the hyphae at the cap edge. Xeromphalina fulvipes is another similar species that is common along the Pacific Coast; it has fully to slightly attached gills (as opposed to at least somewhat decurrent in the former two species) and cap flesh with an upper gelatinous layer when mounted in potassium hydroxide and viewed under the microscope.

Xeromphalina cornui SAT-00-251-16

Marasmiellus candidus SAT-07-285-03

Marasmiellus candidus (Bolton) Singer

Strictly speaking, Marasmiellus candidus is more similar to the collybias than it is to the mycenas; however, its smallish size and fairly dainty stature cause us to include it here. Its bright white cap and tendency to grow in large groups make it an attention-grabber in our dark forests where it occurs on berry canes and twigs of both conifers and hardwoods. up close it is exquisite. The cap is broadly convex, usually with a navel-like central depression, and nearly flesh-less, and the gills are thin, very widely spaced, and usually with blunt veinlike connections between them. Both cap and gills often stain pinkish or reddish in age. The stipe is mostly blackish, but usually grades upward to almost white at the apex. Microscopically, the spores are shaped somewhat like elongated teardrops (11–15 × 3.5–5.5 µm), the cheilocystidia are smooth, quite slender, and sometimes wavy, with a swollen base. Marasmiellus candidus occurs throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, but probably reaches its peak abundance in the PNW and northern California. Several species of pure white mycenas, placed in the genus Hemimycena by many mycologists, could be confused with M. candidus; however, they typically are smaller, do not have dark stipes, more often grow in litter or on herbaceous plant remains, and occur in smaller groups.

Micromphale perforans (G. F. Hoffmann: Fries) S. F. Gray

Micromphale perforans is another dainty mushroom with features that resemble colly-bias or marasmiuses more than mycenas. It has a fading, brown, wrinkled-furrowed cap with a depressed center, thin, wide-spaced, beige, somewhat wavy gills, and a long, dark brown to almost black, hairy, elastic stipe. The odor is unpleasant, resembling rotting cabbage or broccoli. It has oblong to elongated tear-shaped spores (6–9.5 × 3–5.5 µm) and smooth, cylindrical to slightly clavate, cheilo- and pleurocystidia that often are rare or missing. Micromphale perforans typically occurs in groups on conifer litter, often that of spruce, and is widely distributed in the northern Northern Hemisphere. Several similar-looking species occur in northern California and the PNW, but these differ from M. perforans in their garlic or onion odor and, usually, substrate. These include M. sequoiae with a mild odor and occurrence on coast redwood needles, M. arbuticola on shed pieces of madrone bark, Marasmiellus filopes on conifer needles, Marasmius salalis on Oregon grape or salal leaves, and M. copelandii on oak, tanbark oak, or chinquapin leaves.

GENUS PLEUROTUS AND SIMILAR MUSHROOMS

The shelf-like gilled mushrooms are referred to as pleurotoid, after the genus Pleurotus, the most conspicuous such fungi. Pleurotoid mushrooms typically are wood-inhabiting, grow in clusters, and have laterally attached stipes, or no stipe at all, and adnate to decurrent gills. Only rarely do they have a veil. They range from very small to quite large and usually are fairly fleshy but can be tough and pliable as well. Spores vary from white to pink, brown, and nearly black. We include a few of the light-spored pleurotoid mushrooms here. Other light-spored pleurotoid genera include Tectella and Hohenbuehelia. Pleurotoid mushrooms with darker spores can be found in genera such as Claudopus (pink), Crepidotus (brown), and Melanotus (purple-brown).

Micromphale perforans

Pleurotus pulmonarius (Fries) Quélet

OYSTER MUSHROOM

Oyster mushroom is the name used for species of Pleurotus. The status of the PNW’s oyster mushrooms is unclear beyond the fact that they definitely do occur here, often in spring, and are widely sought-after by mycophagists. The name applied to most North American oysters, Pleurotus ostreatus, is European in origin and refers to a species with dark, often blue-gray, caps. It does occur in eastern North America but is not known to grow in the PNW. Our oysters usually have whitish to brown caps and likely represent P. pulmonarius and P. popu-linus O. Hilber and O. K. Miller ex O. Hilber. These two species are virtually identical morphologically and are best identified by substrate—P. populinus grows primarily on the wood of cottonwoods and aspen, whereas P. pulmonarius grows on the wood of a range of other conifers and hardwoods. All the oysters are variable in size, forming small to large, fan-shaped to broadly convex, often lobed caps, without a stipe or with a short lateral or off-center one with copious white hairs at the base. The gills are whitish, and decurrent if a stipe is present. In age the fruitbodies may turn yellowish and, if carefully examined when first found, small beetles often can be observed among the gills of mature fruitbodies. The spores are white, pale lilac, or somewhat grayish. The odor is pleasant, anise-like at times. When growing on the top of a log, the stipe can be central and then the mushroom has the aspect of a clitocybe. Caution should be used when collecting such forms for eating, as many clitocybes are poisonous.

Pleurotus pulmonarius SAT-05-232-04

Pleurotus populinus SAT-97-253-01

Pleurotus populinus SAT-06-290-11

Pleurotus populinus SAT-97-253-01

Species of Pleurotus are easily cultivated. This home-kit features a beautiful pink strain of P. djamor.

Pleurocybella porrigens

Pleurocybella porrigens (Persoon: Fries) Singer

ANGEL WINGS

Pleurocybella porrigens can be found on conifer (especially hemlock) logs and stumps throughout the PNW, often occurring in large, exquisite, imbricate masses. It has spoon- to conch-shaped caps that are translucent-striate when fresh and develop a wavy margin when expanded. It is white to ivory, has no stipe, thin, rather tough, elastic flesh, and crowded narrow gills. In comparison, oyster mushrooms are fleshier and Pleurocybella porrigens

usually darker-colored, and the thin flesh makes P. porrigens less desirable than oysters as an edible. In addition, it recently was responsible for the deaths of several elderly Japanese, so caution is in order.

Pleurocybella porrigens

Panellus longinquus (Berkeley) Singer

In our area, we have three common species that have been placed in the genus Panel-lus but which when compared with one another are not very much alike, beyond the fact that all have a pleurotoid stature and small, white, amyloid spores. These are P. stypticus, a small ochraceous brown, tough, astringent-tasting species; P. serotinus, a tough, rather large, often viscid, yellowish green to olivaceous brown, late-fall (its common name is winter oyster) species; and P. longinquus (= Pleurotopsis longinquus), the mushrooms a small, viscid to slimy species with a pink to white or sometimes purplish brown, distinctly striate cap that is attached by a small stipe, and white to pinkish gills. It is a fairly common species, most abundant in cool wet falls, but also present at other times, on a variety of hardwood trees including alder and maple.

Lentinellus montanus O. K. Miller

Lentinellus montanus has fan- to kidney-shaped, rounded to lobed, buff to tan or brownish caps that are hairy to tomentose near the short stipe or point of attachment. The gills radiate from the point of attachment, are whitish to tan, and have sawtoothed edges. The fruitbodies are fleshy to tough and pliable and often have a slowly developing acrid taste. The spores are white, amyloid, and faintly ornamented. Lentinellus montanus is most common in higher elevation forests on conifer logs following snow-melt. The similar L. ursinus also occurs in our region, on hardwood and conifer logs at lower elevations, and can be found throughout the fruiting season but especially in moist cool weather.

Panellus longinquus

Lentinellus montanus SAT-97-166-09

Lentinus strigosus

Lentinus strigosus (Schweinitz) Fries

Lentinus strigosus (commonly Panus rudis) is one of several mushrooms with a short, lateral hairy stipe that is usually about the same color as the cap. The epithet is descriptive of the dense covering of stiff hairs over the cap. The cap, when expanded, is somewhat vase-shaped with the edge inrolled, the color is often purple at first, but soon fades to reddish brown, pinkish brown, orangish brown, or tan, and the flesh is white, thin, and rather tough. The gills are close, narrow, colored like the cap at first and then fading to whitish, and have even edges. The taste can be somewhat bitter. The spores are white, smooth, and non-amyloid. Lentinus strigosus is a widely distributed species, occurring on logs and stumps of hardwoods whenever temperature and moisture conditions are suitable. Phyllotopsis nidulans is another hairy-capped pleurotoid species, but it is orange-yellow, has a very disagreeable odor, and is rare in the PNW.

Neolentinus kauffmanii (A. H. Smith)

Redhead and Ginns

Neolentinus kauffmanii can appear either pleurotoid or collybia-like, depending on the orientation of the stipe. usually it is off-center and curved, so we have included it here. When mature, the pale tan to pinkish tan or vinaceous tinged caps are nearly flat, with lobed margins. The crowded, adnate to decurrent gills are irregular or saw-toothed and vary from whitish to pinkish buff. The taste is slightly peppery at times. The spores are white, small, and non-amyloid. Neolentinus kauffmanii is primarily a fall species and causes a brown rot of conifer logs and stumps, usually Sitka spruce. Neolentinus adhaerens, a rare brownish species with amber resin spots on the cap, occurs in the same habitats.

Neolentinus kauffmanii SAT-97-284-07

Ossicaulis lignatilis (Persoon) Redhead and Ginns

Ossicaulis lignatilis is a usually refrigerator-white mushroom with the habit of fruiting inside hollowed-out branches, trunks, and stumps of trees, making it difficult to find. The caps are medium-sized and may exhibit tinges of rose to vinaceous pink, the gills are typically crowded, adnate to decur-rent, and the stipes are variable in length, often curved, usually off-center, often in fascicles with small aborted caps, and with white strands at the base. Fresh-cut specimens have a farinaceous odor. Ossicaulis lignatilis causes brown rot of hardwoods, especially maple and cottonwood, and, less commonly, conifers. It is known from elsewhere in North America, as well as Japan and Europe, but is not commonly recorded. The tough texture and unpleasant odor argue against it being a worthwhile edible.

Ossicaulis lignatilis SAT-98-332-18